PRESIDENT Aquino has appointed former Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano Rufino Biazon as the new customs chief and retired Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim as customs deputy commissioner for intelligence, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
Mr. Aquino “believes that former Representative Biazon can implement and continue the reforms that we need to implement in customs and to meet the revenue targets of the agency,” Deputy Presidential Spokesman Abigail Valte said in a news briefing.
Valte brushed aside criticisms that the appointment of Biazon was a political accommodation, he being a colleague of the President in the Liberal Party.
“I think the competence of former Representative Biazon cannot be questioned. We have seen, especially in the field of public service, that Ruffy Biazon is very well known. We know that he will follow the reform agenda as intended by the President,” she said.
While Biazon is known to be “very soft-spoken,” Valte said he has “the drive and the determination” to do his job well.
Biazon and Lim both ran—and lost—under the LP banner in last year’s senatorial race.
Outgoing Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said he is happy to have served the Aquino administration for more than year, but said he wanted a graceful exit, noting that he is being criticized for “sins” he did not commit.
Alvarez was set to meet with the President and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on Wednesday evening. The President is set to leave for the United States on Thursday.
“I just want to do the turnover [in a proper manner], just like what my predecessor [former Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales] did when I assumed the position. I am ready for that,” Alvarez said.
“Before, I was counting the months or weeks [as BOC chief]. Now, I am just counting the days [of my stay in government]. But I am happy that I was able to serve the government. I want a graceful exit. Maybe I will just serve until Friday, who knows,” Alvarez told reporters on Wednesday morning before the President announced Biazon’s appointment.
In the Congressional Oversight Committee hearing on the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program on Wednesday morning, Sen. Ralph Recto and Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas congratulated Alvarez for the improvements he made in the BOC and for his actions in recovering the thousands of container vans that have been missing since January.
Apparently unaware that the President would announce Alvarez’s replacement later in the day, Recto said, “I hope to see you in our next” committee hearing in December.
When the BusinessMirror asked him if the President requested him to stay longer, Alvarez replied: “I will stay and continue the reforms that I have started.”
“It’s just unfortunate that my accomplishments in the BOC were not appreciated. It was me who uncovered the case of the missing container [vans] and filed a case against the smugglers, but I still came out as the bad person,” he said.
Alvarez said he would return to the private sector.
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By: Mia M. Gonzalez and VG Cabuag
Source: Business Mirror, Sept. 14, 2011
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