‘MBA’ scheme at BOC ends with Lapeña

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña vowed yesterday to put an end to the so-called “MBA” scheme in getting into the Bureau of Customs (BOC) with the end purpose of facilitating the release of shipments.

MBA is the infamous term used by bureau insiders to mean “may backer ako” (I have a backer) or “may bayad ako” (I’ve paid for it) in reference to securing key employment positions in the BOC.

Speaking at yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony, Lapeña mentioned those familiar with the practice of influence peddling using the term “MBA” to stop, because it will not work anymore.

“’May backer ako’ o ‘may bayad ako’ – it will not happen in my time,” he said.

Even in the past, former BOC chief, Nicanor Faeldon, also spoke harshly against influence peddling in the bureau and criticized some lawmakers of securing BOC posts for their relatives only to have inside track on customs operations.

For Lapeña, recommendations for employment will be welcome, but only the most qualified will be gain the position.

“Of course I will accept the recommendations, but they will go through the process an whoever is more deserving then he/she must get in, especially those who have been here for 30 years but were never promoted,” he said.

Earlier, Lapeña said a massive promotion of employees is in order. He said the bureau will prioritize the employees in the bureau to be promoted to the next rank level rather than hiring new ones to fill in vacancies.

On the other side of the coin, the BOC Chief threatened to relieve all employees in the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) due to failure to relay to the commissioner any intelligence report for the past three months.

“I have already relieved 125 (people) and I will be relieving more including all employees in the CIIS. Until now I have not received any intelligence report on what’s happening in the bureau kaya irerelive ko kayong lahat hindi na lang reshuffle, tatanggalin ko kayong lahat (so I will relieve you all, I will not just reshuffle but relieve you all),” he warned.