Page 35 - SEPTEMBER 2017 A ISSUE

September 2017 – No. 17 • UK & Europe Edition
‘SMALL’ ABELLERA ATTENDS SENATE
HEARING, ADMITS MEETING TAGUBA IN DAVAO
MANILA – Davao City Councilor
Nilo “Small” Abellera finally showed up
on Thursday at the Senate inquiry into
the smuggling of 604 kilos of crystal
meth, or “shabu,” into the country,
admitting he met customs broker Mark
Taguba in the southern city in January.
However, Abellera denied belonging
to or knowing anything about the so-
called “Davao group,” which supposedly
facilitates the quick release of shipments
by the Bureau of Customs, or receiving a
P5-million “enrollment fee” from Taguba
to avail of the group’s services.
He had also made the same denial
in an affidavit he had submitted to
the Senate when he failed to attend
an earlier hearing because of health
concerns.
But like Taguba, Abellera earned
himself a scolding from Senator Richard
Gordon, chairman of the Blue Ribbon
committee, who was incredulous when
the councilor, like the broker, claimed
not to know the real identity of “Jack,”
the supposed Davao group member
who introduced them to each other.
Taguba had earlier identified Jack as
the supposed “handler” of Davao Vice
Mayor Paolo Duterte, based on text
messages from Tita Nani, his contact
with the Davao group.
Earlier, Gordon and Majority Leader
Vicente Sotto III berated Taguba, saying
his inability to say who Jack really was
How do you solve a problem like BOC? Lapeña discusses ways to beat corruption at Customs
MANILA – With corruption so
ingrained and as addictive as drugs at
the agency, will the new Customs chief
be able to solve the bureau’s problem at
its roots?
On Wednesday, Isidro Lapeña, a
retired general and former chief of
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
(PDEA) and head of the Davao City
Public Safety Command, discussed
how he would address greed among
employees of the 115-year-old agency.
and to remember details of his meeting
with Abellera, such as the name of the
Davao restaurant where it took place,
made his testimony suspect.
They also accused Taguba of trying
to divert he inquiry away from the main
issue, to determine how such a large
volume of drugs, worth an estimated
P6.4 billion, slipped into the country
past the Bureau of Customs.
Sotto found it hard to believe that
Taguba could agree to go to Davao with
millions of pesos in cash to meet with
people he did not know.
Taguba said “nagbakasakali ako (I
took a chance)” because he was
desperate to have a shipment that was
the subject of a Customs alert released.
Asked if the person he called “Small”
was in the session hall, Taguba walked
over to Abellera and pointed to the
councilor.
When Gordon questioned Abellera,
he, too, confirmed that Taguba was
the same person introduced to him by
Jack during their meeting at the Casa
de Amigos Restobar, which he said was
some five kilometers from his home.
Abellera said Jack had called him
asking to meet and claimed he agreed
to because “I was doing nothing at the
moment.”
This made Gordon ask if he was in
the habit of agreeing to meet people he
did not know.
“The marching order given to me
by President Duterte is to address the
perennial problems that have beset
the BOC for years. My top priority–
and it should be clear to everyone-
is to do away with the culture
of pasalubong and tara. Strictly no-
gift-and-no-take policy,” he said in his
message during the turn over ceremony
at the BOC port district in Manila.
Lapeña made the pronouncement
days after Sen. Panfilo Lacson disclosed
File photo of newly
appointed BOC chief Isidro resulted last May in the entry of 604
Lapeña from Philstar
NEWS
Abellera explained that as a
politician he meets people “casually”
and that Jack must have been one of
them. He also confirmed having Jack’s
number in his phone’s contact list.
When he arrived at the restaurant,
Abellera said he talked to Jack, who
was sitting at a table with a companion.
Jack, he said, “told me a friend who
was a customs broker was asking help
to be introduced to Paolo Duterte” and
claimed he refused the request.
It was at this point, he said, when
Jack introduced him to Taguba.
But he added he left after five to 10
minutes.
Taguba, on the other hand, gave
a different version of their meeting,
saying it lasted for about an hour and
insisting he had handed Abellera a blue
La Coste bag containing the P5-million
“enrollment fee” he had been instructed
to bring to Davao by “Tita Nani,”
his contact with the Davao group,
supposedly to facilitate a meeting with
Duterte.
The broker said when Abellera
arrived at the meeting, Jack introduced
him saying: “Mark, ito si Small, barkada
‘yan (Mark, this is Small, he’s part of the
group).”
Abellera, said Taguba, ordered
something to eat and told him:
“Mark ‘pag pumasok ka sa amin dapat
maging maayos kasa pagre-remit kasi
that resigned Customs chief Nicanor
Faeldon allegedly received a P100-
million welcome gift when he started
his stint at the agency last year.
Also, according to Lacson, corruption
at the bureau via the tara system has
become systemic, involving top to
bottom executives and personnel of the
agency.
Tara refers to the huge bribes that
importers and brokers regularly give
to BOC officials and employees for the
easy release of their shipments, which
kilos of shabu via the agency’s express
lane.
Earlier, Lacson conservatively placed
the number of bribery-laden shipments
to 5,000 containers a day or half of BOC
officials’ estimate of 10,000 containers
that enter the country’s ports daily.
Thus, at P40,000-tara per container,
the estimated grease money involved
in corrupt BOC transactions is at least
P200 million per day or P73 billion a
year.
One-strike policy. To “boost internal
cleansing”, the new leadership of the
BOC would implement a “one-strike”
www.hello-philippines.com 35
Davao Councilor Nilo ‘Small’ Abellera at Customs commissioner.
the Senate hearing. (News5 image) Taguba said he explained that his
ayaw naming masunog (Mark if you father was retired and that he was
join us you must be prompt with your operating separately.
remittances because we don’t want to
get burned).” That night, Jack assured him he
could fix things for another P2 million
He said the councilor and Jack for “Pulong.”
explained that they were having
problems with another broker who was Although he never met with Duterte,
not properly handing over payments. Taguba confirmed that the shipment he
had sought the Davao group’s help for
After the meeting broke out, Taguba was quickly released and he continued
said he carried the bag with the money to deal with them, handing over an
outside and handed it to Abellera, who average of P1 million a week for
was in his parked vehicle. facilitating the release of shipments.
Abellera, he said, promised to call Duterte asked the National Bureau
him later. But when the call came, of Investigation to secure a copy of
he was told that “Pulong,” which is the CCTV footage at the time of the
Duterte’s nickname, was hesitant to meeting between Taguba and Abellera
meet because of his father, Ruben, a from Casa de Amigos. n InterAksyon | August
retired Customs policemen and former
vice mayor of Piat, Cagayan, who 31, 2017, 1:56 PM
supposedly caused trouble for a former
TseoabevjHinoeoetmebdkraal.yyrplcyoodIoBonmncouOwaeepreCn.ittesIndohfruaonoabpmmtetmepiedoeioldoy.ony”r,n.tI by adhering only to legitimate
procedures.”
policy against employees found guilty
of corruption, according to Lapeña. “Part of our job is trade facilitation.
Do not give us reasons to hold your
He said the policy “shall be supported shipment and I assure you that under
by intensified counter-intelligence my term as Customs Commissioner,
efforts.” we will collect what is legally proper
and correct dues. No more “tara”.
“I intend to give each of you a clean Do not be duped into becoming
slate, so we can move forward. Just do instruments that contribute to
your work. Prove your worth, and I will breeding corruption in the bureau,”
back you up. But once I receive reports he said.
of your involvement with corrupt
practices and such reports are validated: Lapeña also sought support
I will not think twice. Pasensiyahan and cooperation from Customs
tayo,” the new BOC chief added. employees.
Lapeña likewise appealed to all “To my BOC family, I seek your
stakeholders, especially importers, support and cooperation. Help me do
“to support and cooperate with us my job. I cannot do it alone. I need
everyone to be on board with me.”
“I still believe that many good
men and women remain here in the
bureau. Do not let the unscrupulous
few continue to destroy the name
of the BOC. If you are not with me,
step aside because I am looking
to steamroll major changes across
the bureau.” n Romel Lopez, News5 |
Ferdinand Patinio, Philippine News Agency |
August 30, 2017, 9:22 PM