Military to heed Duterte’s order to take over Customs

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is ready to follow the order of President Rodrigo Duterte, its com- mander-in-chief, to temporarily take over civilian functions at the highly corrupt Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Whether the move is legal or constitutional is a question best left to Malacañang, AFP spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said Tuesday, October 30.

Arevalo said the AFP is taking “cognizance” of the order of the President.

“’Yung question ng constitutionality and legality I would like to leave that to the President’s spokesperson. The AFP is just responding to the mandate given to us by the commander-in-chief,” Arevalo said.

He said the military personnel who will be assigned to the BOC will be sourced from the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Navy and Marine Corps.

However, he said they have yet to be told about the specific tasks and functions of the military personnel at the Customs bureau.

“We are still in the process of determining exactly what will be the tasks for the soldiers. We will match it on the troops but those qualifications that I initially told you about will be a primordial consideration,” he said.

Arevalo said the deployment

of military personnel in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will be on a “temporary basis only.”

“Temporary lang, depende sa pangangailangan. When we say temporary that is supposed to be during the period na kakailanganin lang ang serbisyo ng armed forces,” he said.

On Sunday, October 28, President Duterte said he was placing all the BOC personnel on a floating status and assigning soldiers with technical expertise to take over their functions.

Duterte made the announcement following the alleged corruption activities in the said agency amid the government’s war on drugs.

His plan has been criticized as unconstitutional.

The 1987 Constitution states: No member of the armed forces in the active service shall, at any time, be appointed or designated in any capacity to a civilian position in the Government including government-owned or controlled corporations or any of their subsidiaries./ Third Anne Peralta-malonzo/ Sunstar Philippines