Customs exec denies ‘malicious, false’ raps

A Bureau of Customs official yesterday denied allegations by a supposed group of BOC personnel linking her to alleged illegal drug smuggling in the agency.

Lawyer Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang, district collector at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, said the accusations against her by a group called “Real concerned BOC employees” in a letter to Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña were malicious and false.

Mangaoang said the insinuations were made in an attempt to destroy her credibility.

She is set to testify in the Senate investigation on the multibillion-peso illegal drug shipments that slipped past the BOC recently.

“What they are saying are complete lies… They are trying to destroy my credibility – that is their purpose because I was invited to shed light on what the x-ray machine is all about,” Mangaoang said in an interview with The STAR.

“This is a fictitious organization. They are hiding behind this group that does not exist in the bureau, and they use this as a vehicle to discredit me. These people are the ones that are corrupt,” she pointed out.

The BOC official was summoned by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee chaired by Sen. Richard Gordon to testify on the P6.4-billion shabu shipment that came from China and the seizure of magnetic lifters believed to contain P6.8 billion worth of shabu at the Manila International Container Port as well as the possible lack of coordination among the BOC, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police.

Last week, the group linked Mangaoang to BOC intelligence agent Jimmy Guban, who is being investigated by the Senate for his alleged involvement in shabu smuggling.

Guban is being held at the Senate after he was cited in contempt for lying under oath.

Mangaoang clarified that she has not talked to Guban in the past years.

“The last time I saw him was probably years ago at the Department of Finance. I do not have anything to do with the (shabu) shipment. Giving information is not my job, that is the job of the Customs Intelligence Group and Anti-Illegal Drugs Interdiction Task Force,” she said.

The group earlier asked Lapeña to look into the wealth of Mangaoang and Guban who have allegedly displayed lavish lifestyle.

Mangaoang welcomed the lifestyle check provided that it would cover all BOC officials.

“It should be for all Customs officials, from the commissioner down to the lowest employees. I don’t think that I should be singled out,” she said.