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PRESIDENT Arroyo has reorganized certain functions of
the Bureau of Customs (BOC) “to make it more responsive”
to the government’s antismuggling campaign.
In
issuing Executive Order (EO) 724, the President noted
that the current setup in the bureau, “where the
prosecution function is being exercised by various
offices, units, divisions as well as the ad hoc bodies
in the said bureau, diminishes the effectivity of the
antismuggling drive-campaign of the government.”
Among
the offices covered by EO 724 are the Investigation and
Prosecution Division (IPD), Customs Intelligence and
Investigation Service (CIIS), Internal Inquiry and
Prosecution Division (IIPD-CIIS), and certain offices or
units under the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for
Intelligence and Enforcement.
It also
covers the Director of Enforcement and Security Services
(ESS), Prosecution and Litigation Division (PLD), Legal
Service (LS) and the Office of the Commissioner (Ocom).
EO 724
transfers the prosecution function of the BOC from
IPD-CIIS, IIPD-CIIS, and ESS to PLD-LS; review,
evaluation and processing of claims for rewards function
from RRD-LS to Ocom.
It also
authorizes the Customs commissioner to form the rewards
committee in the Ocom.
It
allocates P5 million from BOC funds as an initial fund
for the establishment of the Committee on Rewards, and
P2 million more as a one-time expense for the inventory,
cataloguing and eventual transfer of case folders, files
and other documents to the IIPD, IPD and other offices,
units or ad hoc bodies of the PLD-LS.
The
President cited as legal basis for her move Section 31,
Chapter 10, Title III, Book III of EO 292, or as the
Administrative Code of 1987, which grants the Chief
Executive the continuing authority to reorganize the
executive branch of the government. |
