Guerrero vows to use full extent of power to cleanse BOC
New Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero on Monday warned that he will use the full extent of his power to rid the bureau of corruption.
On his first day in office yesterday, he said he will not hesitate to use the full extent of his power to accomplish his top priority -- to fight corruption and cleanse the bureau of corrupt officials.
“Hindi ako mangingimi na gamitin ang aking kapangyarihan at otoridad para siguraduhin na ako’y magtagumpay sa aking tungkulin (I will not hesitate to use my power and authority to make sure that I will carry out my duty). I will use the full extent of the powers and authority given to me as your commissioner to make sure that I will accomplish my mission,” Guerrero said.
Speaking at his first flag raising ceremony in the bureau, Guerrero also urged all Customs employees to help
The Philippine National Police (PNP) is not keen on hiring more women in the police force amid a proposal to increase the population of policewomen to at least 20 percent of its total force.
PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said the nature of the job of the police makes it impractical to hire more women than what the PNP already has since police works usually demand physical presence at their posts.
“We don’t want to discriminate our female police officers but we already have a lot of women. They are mostly doing deskwork, administrative work,” said Albayalde.
Some of the female officers, however, are deployed in some elite units like the Special Action Force as members of the Civil Disturbance and Management Unit who are tasked to face R196.57 R68.33 R59.56 (R19.6 him and trust him in their mission to cleanse the bureau.
“Ako ay nanawagan sa inyong lahat bilang inyong pinuno na tulungan ninyo ako na ipatupad ang aking tungkulin (I am appealing to you all as your leader to help me implement my mission),” the commissioner said.
“Let us trust each other and honestly perform our duties as public servants. Let us serve with honesty and integrity, let us keep the dignity and nobility of public service,” he said in Filipino.
The Customs chief also stressed that despite having many commissioners taking on the challenge to cleanse the bureau, the problem remains.
“Masakit mang tanggapin ngunit ang ating ahensya ay nasa gitna na naman sa isang malaking kontrobersiya. Kailan ba talaga tayo magsisimula ayusin ang ating ahensya? Marami mga commissioner na dumaan dito pero hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin natin maayos ayos ang ating sistema (It protesters.
Albayalde was reacting to the proposal of Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel to reserve for women at least 20 percent of the PNP’s annual recruitment, training and education quota, up from the legal minimum of 10 percent.
“We are also pushing for immediate administrative reforms in the PNP so that only female officers should have direct and immediate custody of children brought to police stations for any reason, regardless whether they are considered in conflict with the law or not,” Pimentel said in a statement.
“In other jurisdictions with strong child protection systems, whenever a young girl is taken in for any reason, male officers cannot just put her in a police car. They have to call for a female officer to accompany the child,” he added. is hard to accept that the bureau is once again in the middle of a huge controversy. When will we really start to cleanse the bureau? Many commissioners have led the bureau but until now, we have yet to clean the system),” Guerrero said.
He ordered that every transaction within the bureau should be documented.
“In this regard concerns and transactions in the bureau should follow official channels and the regular process. Everything should be documented, reported, and transparent,” Guerrero said.
As early as his first day, he has warned that he has not authorized anyone to use his name for illegal transactions. He urged everyone to report any future incident using his name.
While the bureau is in the middle of a large-scale drug smuggling controversy, the former AFP Chief promised that he will not destroy the name of the bureau while he is in charge.
But Albayalde said there are some restrictions that make the PNP leadership think twice in supporting the call to hire more women in the police force.
“Remember there are restrictions for women especially if they get married and get pregnant. The maternity leave now is very long, I think it was extended,” said Albayalde.
“So you could just imagine that we cannot deploy them for that span of time,” he added.
Albayalde, however, clarified that the PNP has been strictly following the law in ensuring that the 10 percent rule for women in the PNP is followed.
In fact, he said their latest assessment would reveal that the population of female police officers is now at 12 percent of the 190,000 strength of the PNP. (With a report from Ellson A. Quismorio)