philippine president ma kos appoints rubio as new customs chief!

On February 10, local time, a statement from the Philippine Presidential Communications Office stated that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had appointed Rubio (Bienvenido Rubio) as the new head of the Customs Bureau.

He will replace Yogi Filemon Ruiz, who was appointed acting customs chief last July.

In 2021, Rubio served as the head of the Evaluation and Operations Coordination Group of the Port Operations Services Department of the Customs Service. In addition, he participated in the Manila International Container Port Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service in 2012 and played an important role in arresting smuggled agricultural products and drugs.

In the latest appointment, Rubio will focus on achieving and exceeding tax targets, simplifying and ensuring trade facilitation, curbing any form of smuggling, and boosting the morale of the agency's staff.

Rubio said: "I believe that, first of all, the Customs Service will be strengthened through active cooperation with its partner agencies and stakeholders to promote good governance. In essence, stakeholders will always be considered and included in the process of improving customs services and procedures. I also believe that 90% of the problems encountered by customs authorities can be solved as long as they are viewed from an internal perspective."

His action plan includes reviewing and modifying customs processes by digitizing all customs bureau processes to respond to the president's call for transparent and efficient government, improving the ability and integrity of personnel to ensure the provision of quality public services, adopting a data-driven culture, ensuring that the collected data is used for decision-making at all levels of the organization, and linking agency actions to feedback and evaluation from its partners and stakeholders.