Galvez orders formation of military team to Customs
ARMED Forces Chief Carlito Galvez Jr. has ordered the formation of a contingent of soldiers to be deployed to the Bureau of Customs (BoC) on the order of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, military spokesman, said on Monday that the contingent would be sourced from the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Navy and the Philippine Marine Corps.
However, Arevalo did not provide the number of troops that would come from each of the military branches.
“This will be on a temporary basis and will depend on the needs. When we say temporary, that is supposed to be during the period that [the Customs] will need the service of the Armed Forces,” he told reporters in a news conference.
Arevalo also refused to comment on the legality and constitutionality of the deployment of troops to the BoC, which is a civilian government agency under the Department of Finance.
The military spokesman said that the qualifications of the soldiers to be deployed in the BoC would depend on the requirements to be laid down by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, a former chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
“We are still in the process of determining exactly what will be the tasks for the soldiers. We will match it on the troops but those qualifications that I initially told you about will be a primordial consideration,” Arevalo said. DEMPSEY REYES
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