The rise and fall of governments has always been a question of leadership, never of membership.
Assigning military men to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is nothing new and has been done in previous administrations, not only under President Duterte.
But it is a myth that putting military men in our ports is the solution. The reason is simple: It is not the uniform that makes a man upright, it is his core values. No matter how many generals and soldiers the President assigns to our ports, if the BOC’s leaders are naturally corrupt, morally weak, and are opportunists, our ports would always be vulnerable to the smuggling of illegal drugs. It is stupid to believe that foot soldiers could influence or dictate the character of an organization.
If months from now, “shabu” (crystal meth) shipments slip our ports again, the problem would then be obvious. It is the President’s lack of discernment in appointing an honest and competent leader to head the BOC that is the root of the problem.
CLARENCE PAUL OAMINAL, attypauloaminal@yahoo.com