Customs says no work slowdown on unpaid overtime

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Monday said its people at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are not on a work slowdown in protest of unpaid back wages and that the long passenger queues during the weekend were brought about by staff shortage and the higher volume of arrivals. Collector Thess Roque, head of the BOC Passenger Services at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), also assured arriving passengers of smooth disembarkation amid minor problems at the airport during the weekend. Roque said while they have yet to receive payment for overtime work rendered since August 2009, BOC personnel will continue manning Customs counters every day including weekends. “No, we did not go on a work slowdown. The news that came out was wrong. We have customs personnel working there every time," Roque maintained. “Malalaman ninyo kapag nag-work slowdown ang Customs kasi wala nang makakalabas na pasahero sa airport pag nangyari iyon (You’ll know if there’s a work slowdown at Customs, because no passenger will be able to leave the airport if that happens)," she added. Roque explained that long queues at the Customs area are due to the increased volume of passengers arriving in the country in light of the holiday season. “Hindi lang naman ngayon nangyari ang ganito kahabang pila dito sa airport. Sobrang dami lang talaga ng mga dumadating na pasahero (The long lines at the airport didn’t happen only now. There were really so many passengers that arrived)," Roque said. “Kung makikita ninyo sa Immigration area, mahaba din ang pila ng mga pasahero duon. Kapag mahaba ang pila sa Immigration, natural, humahaba din ang pila sa Customs (You could also see long passenger queues in the Immigration area. If the queues are long at Immigration, naturally the lines also grow longer at Customs)," she added. Roque said another reason for the long queues at the Customs area is the failure of some passengers to fill out Customs clearance forms. “A lot of passengers come up to the examination area without filling up the Customs forms," she said. Reduced staff after unpaid overtime Roque admitted, however, that the BOC now only has a little over 400 people assigned in three shifts at NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3. Prior to the non-payment of the Customs employees’ overtime work, Roque said the BOC-NAIA District did not have problems with staffing, as personnel from the bureau’s main office were also deployed for overtime work at the airport. However, after airline companies stopped paying for their overtime work, only organic BOC personnel are deployed to man the night and weekend shifts. The Court of Appeals earlier ruled in favor of international carriers — represented by the Board of Airline Representatives — declaring as illegal the overtime pay of BOC employees. A Customs official who requested anonymity earlier said the unpaid wages, which some 500 BOC employees are supposed to receive, now amount to billions of pesos for overtime work since August last year. The BOC earlier proposed that departing passengers, including overseas Filipino workers, pay an additional fee of $1-$2 to cover its employees’ unpaid wages. But Vice President Jejomar Binay and the migrants’ rights group Migrante International opposed the move. No more free Customs forms printing Meanwhile, the BOC is faced with another problem as the group of airline operators decided to stop printing Customs forms for free starting next year. Roque confirmed the Airline Operator’s Council (AOC) will stop having Customs forms printed come Jan. 1, 2011. According to Roque, AOC chair Maria Lourdes Reyes told NAIA District Collector Ding So in a letter last week the group’s decision to stop providing the forms. The AOC has been printing the government forms for free in the last 10 years because of a sponsorship deal with private companies, Roque said. The council, however, has decided to give the responsibility back to the government, citing logistical problems. Sponsor Smart Communications has pulled out of the deal and no reason was cited, according to AOC’s Reyes said. The AOC used to have more than 20 million forms printed annually. The forms were then distributed to the international airports in Manila and Cebu. “We have a good working relationship with the BOC. Our decision to stop providing the forms is in no way connected with issue on overtime [pay]," Reyes said. “Their overtime issue is with the BAR [Board of Airline Representatives] and not the AOC," she added. — With Jerrie Abella/JE/VS, GMANews.TV