THE following story is a bit outside my usual lane, but it is a potentially deeply concerning one that no one else seems to be talking about, at least so far, and so it deserves some attention, particularly in the current environment of heightened public awareness about corruption in government. It is one of those stories that, even if the officials involved were inclined to be fully transparent about what was going — and they certainly do not seem to be — it would still be confusing, so I will do my best to try to explain simply.
It begins with an incident that occurred sometime during August — the exact date is unclear, but it was sometime between Aug. 3 and Aug. 25 — wherein there was a confrontation between personnel of the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Bulacan, at a facility where the BOC was holding a large quantity of confiscated smuggled cigarettes slated for destruction. For reasons that were initially unclear, the HPG officers accosted two BOC personnel who had been assigned to the location, later identified as special agent Lucky Joy Solmayor and technical support staff Alexander “Alex” Arroyo Jr.
According to reports on Aug. 25, there were allegations that a local politician had directed the HPG to go to the Bulacan location to collect the confiscated cigarettes, which prompted Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla to announce that the DILG would investigate the matter. For its part, the HPG said that its personnel were there to carry out a sting operation against Solmayor and Arroyo, who were suspected of supplying confiscated, smuggled cigarettes to the black market.
What should happen in a case such as this is that everyone involved should be suspended from duty, so that a proper, impartial investigation can be carried out. That happened on the side of the police; PNP Chief Gen. Jose Nartatez Jr. ordered HPG-NCR chief Col. Joey Tomas Caise and 12 of his subordinates to be relieved from their posts, and through a spokesman said that an internal investigation would be carried out to determine if the HPG personnel were conducting an operation outside their jurisdiction.
The response from the BOC side, however, was puzzling to say the least.
In the Aug. 25 news reports, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno was reported to have announced that he would file an administrative complaint against the HPG personnel with the National Police Commission, for “disrespecting” his BOC personnel. What Nepomuceno did not mention at that time, and which he certainly should have addressed, is that whether or not the HPG personnel were out of line, the accusation that the two BOC operatives were involved in some capacity in a cigarette smuggling operation is quite serious. At the time, Nepomuceno simply dismissed that out of hand, without indicating that any sort of proper investigation was carried out. “What the HPG did was wrong. My men were in uniform. They were not selling cigarettes in the streets. They were guarding the cigarettes being destroyed,” he was quoted as saying.
Up to that point, we might extend Nepomuceno the benefit of the doubt, but on Aug. 28, the HPG filed an administrative complaint against the BOC personnel. That raised the matter to a formal status requiring a by-the-book response, and prompted a statement from Nepomuceno that an internal investigation would be carried out. The results of that, if it was indeed conducted, have not yet been disclosed.
Despite that, jump ahead to the end of September, and Solmayor and Arroyo turned up as personnel participating in the destruction of smuggled cigarettes in Porac, Pampanga — these presumably included those previously held in the Bulacan facility — between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, despite neither the probe of the HPG’s encounter with them the previous month, nor their alleged involvement in trafficking in smuggled goods having been resolved.
Solmayor was initially listed on BOC mission order dated Aug. 3 and signed by BOC deputy commissioner for intelligence Emmanuel Luis Licup, along with two other personnel; Arroyo was not, although his presence at the Bulacan location or the Pampanga operation was apparently not questioned. However, once the dust-up with the HPG occurred, there was no subsequent or revised order sidelining them, as should have been the case. This is further confirmed by a situation report by the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) Task Force Aduana, which listed both personnel among those who were assigned duty, under the BOC Intelligence Group, during the destruction of illicit goods operation at Greenleaf 88 Non-Hazardous Waste Disposal in Porac. Likewise, there is actually a photograph from Sept. 30 showing the two present at the operation.
The reason there was a report by the PCG, which was also circulated in the BOC’s intelligence office, is because the operation in Porac also involved the transport of five container vans of smuggled cigarettes from Pier 8 in Manila to the disposal facility. The PCG report notes that the operation was concluded on Oct. 2 “without any untoward incidents.” Sources inside the BOC have also said that Solmayor, at least, is still actively working in “monitoring and verifying condemnation activities involving confiscated cigarettes and other contraband, including ukay-ukay, in Porac.”
All of this is very bad look for the BOC, and from my perspective, I find it incredibly disappointing because until now, I have had the impression that the BOC leadership under Nepomuceno was doing its best and making some headway against the BOC’s chronic reputation for being one of the most corrupt government agencies, in spite of many challenges. Now, it is hard not to form the impression that the BOC may be falling back into some of its old bad habits.
To be clear, being under suspicion or even being subject to a formal complaint does not at all suggest guilt. Solmayor and Arroyo may be completely innocent of what the HPG is alleging, and in fact, they should be presumed to be so until credible evidence to the contrary is established. But for the BOC to not even look for that evidence, or to follow elementary procedure in an investigation by relieving or at least reassigning those under suspicion so that investigation can proceed without interference, in spite of Nepomuceno’s avowal that there would be “no sacred cows” under his leadership and that any personnel involved in wrongdoing would face the consequences, is highly questionable.
The BOC and Commissioner Nepomuceno need to provide some answers. And, if I may say so, they should have already been able to read the public mood toward even the appearance of corruption well enough to not have to be prompted to do so.
ben.kritz@manilatimes.net
Bluesky: @benkritz.bsky.social
Website: www.badmannersgunclub.com
