MANILA: Some 200 Customs examiners and appraisers will be placed on “floating” status or transferred to the Customs Policy Research Office (CPRO) early next year.
Another 200 people are reportedly undergoing training at the Office of Revenue Agency Modernization (ORAM) to replace them.
President Aquino set up the ORAM and CPRO under Executive Orders 140 and 139 for policy reforms. Some appraisers and examiners are believed to be in cahoots with smugglers to allow illegal shipments to leave port.
The planned movement is part of the top-to-bottom revamp that has been taking place at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) since September last year.
Twenty-seven district collectors and some division chiefs were the first to be sent to the CPRO.