Duterte fires Customs executive

May 30, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte fired on Wednesday an executive of the Bureau of Customs who is also being investigated by the House of Representatives.

In a speech during the condemnation of smuggled luxury motor vehicles in South Harbor, Port Area, Manila, Duterte said he would "cut short the agony of Congress" by firing BOC Deputy Commissioner Noel Patrick Sales Prudente.

"He is now under investigation by the House...so I will cut short the agony of Congress. I am firing him today. Noel Patrick Sales Prudente," he said.

The House of Representatives has been conducting an investigation over the questionable manual alerts issued by the BOC involving over a hundred of container vans.

Duterte appointed Prudente to the post last February. He was a former director of the Philippine National Railways.

Duterte apparently fired Prudente for frequent travels abroad, although they were "personal" travels.

Before mentioning Prudente's name, Duterte mentioned that the BOC official went on personal travels to Singapore at least twice and in Europe.

Duterte recalled he was only able to go to Europe when he was a congressman, along with another lawmaker, when he passed by Paris.

"But we were on our way home. I was not able to go to Europe even once...only passing by," he said.

Duterte earlier fired some of his appointees due to their frequent travels abroad and due to alleged corruption.

Duterte said the BOC is always being monitored because as "I said, it's always been considered the purgatory of government service."

Prudente was the second government official whom Duterte dismissed in less than a week.

Last Monday, he announced in a speech that he fired  Government Corporate Counsel Rudolf Philip Jurado for supposed proliferation of gambling in the country due to a legal opinion he penned regarding Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport. Celerina Monte/DMS