President Duterte has vouched for the integrity of Bureau of Customs (BoC) chief Rey Leonardo Guerrero. He admitted, however, that he once considered replacing him when he did not immediately dismiss an alleged corrupt employee.

In his televised address Tuesday, the President revealed that he asked Guerrero, also known as Jagger, to fire his former chief of staff Teodoro Jumamil but the customs chief took “quite a lot of seasons to do it."

"Well, I was considering --- Jagger, I was considering replacing you not because of anything. I can vouch na malinis ka (I can vouch you are clean). Problem is ‘yung --- do not entertain loyalties especially in government. If you think that that idiot is going to destroy you, you destroy him first," Duterte said during a televised address Tuesday. 

The President recalled that he cautioned Guerrero about Jumamil, calling the latter "balasubas." He accused the former customs official as "very corrupt," criticizing him for allegedly holding two posts in government.

"Sabi ko kay Jagger or through somebody, 'Sisirain ka niyan. Kay ito si Jumamil, matagal na 'yan diyan sa airport. Napaka-corrupt 'yang p

* i** na 'yan' (I told Jagger or through somebody, 'He will destroy you. Jumamil has long been assigned at the airport. That son of a b*tch if very corrupt)," he said.

"I could not understand why he was holding DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) director at the same time he was an employee of the Customs. Sabi ko kay Jagger, 'Bitawan mo ‘yan, ‘pag hindi sisirain ka.' Eh ‘di malapit talaga siya nasira (I told Jagger: 'Let him go or else he will destroy you. Well, he was almost destroyed)," he said.

Duterte however noted that Guerrero did not immediately follow his order to dismiss Jumamil.  

"Maybe because Jagger was new at the time and he would need somebody to --- to guide him to navigate through all of this hullabaloo sa Congress," he said.

"Pero sabi ko si itong si Jumamil tanggalin mo ‘yan kasi ‘yan naglalaro ‘yan matagal na siya. Buti’t na lang --- I think he was also suspended by the Ombudsman? Oo, parang double whammy siya (But I said you should remove Jumamil because he has been playing around for a long time. Fortunately, I think he was also suspended by the Ombudsman. It was a double whammy)," he said.

Duterte also called out Jumamil for allegedly taking advantage of their ties, saying he probably thought he will be let off the hook.

"I have to name him publicly for being… Ano ba ang tawag ko sa iyo? Sa Bisaya na lang. P

* i**, balasubas ka eh. Alam mo bakit Bisaya ka," he said.  "Ang mahirap sa iyo sa panahon ko (The problem with you is during my term) you took advantage maybe because you helped me. And I want you to repay by just closing my eyes," he added.

On the corruption allegations against Guerrero, Duterte maintained that he prefers to wait for the accounting of government funds.

"Sabi nila si Jagger daw ay corrupt. Well, that is just a statement. We will know, I said, when the time of reckoning comes and that is --- that we will make everybody account for the money of government," he said.

In August 2019, Guerrero and other custom officials faced complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman for the alleged illegal appointment of personnel. The complainant reportedly claimed that Guerrero appointed three officials to high-ranking Customs posts even if they were non-career employees.

When rumors circulated about the custom commissioner's imminent removal last January, the President said he remained satisfied with his performance. Duterte said he needed to talk to Guerrero to follow up on the removal of alleged corrupt officials. 

The President, meantime, asked the Department of Justice if it could look into the anomalies in the customs bureau.

"Okay, let me ask you this. This is a very troublesome office for all of us, historically. Can we do it sa Customs?" he asked Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra after presenting the task force's moves to probe the alleged corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III informed the President that Guerrero has already implemented "a very sophisticated system for monitoring all the shipments in the main ports in the country.” He said Guerrero has advanced the digitalization in the customs operations although it is not yet perfect.

"Hindi pa perfect. But he is moving towards that. In other words, alam ni Jagger at any time which shipment is being processed in what port so he can monitor kung magkano ang value ng shipment and how much they (could) collect (as) taxes. If you use the information well, you can tell which is out of the ordinary and you can spot that," he said.