President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed Bienvenido Rubio as the new head of the Bureau of Customs (BOC). Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil has confirmed the information.
Rubio was former director for BOC’s Port Operations Service under the Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group. He first joined the BOC as Special Agent 1 in 2001 and was later promoted as a special investigator, then as Intelligence Officer I.
Rubio was later designated as the officer-in-charge of the Intelligence Division for the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and the Port of Manila until 2013. He was instrumental in apprehending the smuggling of various commodities, including dangerous drugs and agricultural products.
As Director III of the BOC, Rubio also spearheaded the collaboration with the Strategic Trade Management Office, Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and the Anti-Red Tape Authority in establishing mechanisms for reinforcing trade facilitation, establishing seamless export procedures, and critical information sharing.
The BOC, an attached agency of the Department of Finance, is in charge of assessing and collecting customs revenues, curbing illicit trade and all forms of customs fraud, and facilitating trade through an efficient and effective customs management system.
In a related development, Garafil also confirmed the issuance of Executive Order (EO) 15 renaming the Presidential Complaint Center (PCC) as the Presidential Action Center (PACe). EO 15, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on Wednesday, said the new name is “consistent with the nature and scope of its work.”
“In addition to coordination and liaison work, the nature and scope of the work of the PCC also includes providing public assistance and social services such as addressing complaints against government processes and various requests for assistance… there is a need to rename the PCC to ensure that its name is consistent with the nature and scope of its work,” EO No. 15 read.