BOC employees call for removal of official allegedly asking ‘fees’ in exchange for travel authorities, promotion
THE rank and file of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) sent a letter to Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio and reported that an official has been extorting money from employees whenever they apply for travel authority, to be able to travel abroad.
It is necessary for a government employee to secure a travel authority whenever they travel abroad for a seminar, schooling or a vacation.
The employees asked Commissioner Rubio to fire an official of the Internal Administration Group (IAG) who had allegedly been asking for payment in exchange for the issuance of a travel authority, when in fact it should have been issued for free.
The official allegedly demands P20,000 from employees who would be traveling, whether it is for personal or official travel.
In the letter, which they copy furnished the House of Representatives and the Department of Finance, they also complained about the alleged extortion activities of the said official on those seeking promotion.
For instance, if a Customs security officer wants to be promoted to Special Agent 1, the applicant would allegedly have to give a grease money between P200,000 to P500,000 to the said official.
While the amount ranging between P500,000 to P1 million would allegedly have to be given to the IAG official in order to be promoted to the position as Assistant Customs Operations Officer 1.
A hefty sum of P3 million would allegedlyb have to be paid for the position as Customs Operations Officer 2 and Customs Operations Officer 3.
The BOC employee allegedly pays P5 million as price for the position as Customs Operations 5.
The official allegedly even demands a fee for a change in the assignment location.
