Yogi Filemon Ruiz is not the kind of man you would want to mess around with. Behind that calm exterior is someone who has dealt with the very dangerous, often deadly, world of illegal drugs, smuggling, and smugglers.
Before he assumed his current position as Customs Commissioner, Ruiz had been Regional Director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas (Region 7).
He occupied that post for over a year before he became director of the Bureau of Customs’ Enforcement and Security Services, which is in charge of the Customs police.
Ruiz was the BoC ESS director from 2017 until July 2022, when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made him chief of the Bureau. Having been PDEA 7 regional director and the Bureau’s top cop for nearly five years were major decisive factors that influenced the President in choosing Ruiz to become BoC’s main man.
The President swore Ruiz into office on 20 July 2022, and five days later, he officially took on the gargantuan task of overseeing what, reputedly, is one of the most notoriously corrupt agencies of government.
From the outset, Ruiz was single-mindedly clear about what he wanted to achieve as Customs chief: to turn around the Bureau’s image and have no man bar him from clinching that end.
His performance as PDEA 7 regional and BoC ESS director had been stellar and unblemished. Now he was clear about his larger mission vision: to protect the country’s borders from smugglers and kick out corrupt and underperforming revenue personnel from the Bureau.
“The President gave me my marching orders: One, absolutely no drugs; two, no guns; third, get rid of agricultural smuggling; fourth, increase the Bureau’s revenues; and fifth, fully digitalize the BoC’s operations, the better to curb corruption,” said Ruiz.
“And that’s exactly what I intend to fulfill to the best of my ability – what I’m set on doing until I end my term in Customs,” he added.
Tall order
On top of that tall order, there’s also the humongous task of overseeing an agency with thousands of personnel in 17 collection districts around the country. Any man with lesser nerves would shrink at the thought of taking on the daunting challenges the BoC presents, from myriad administrative and operational concerns to systemic deficiencies that has rendered the Bureau historically vulnerable to corrupt practices.
But not Ruiz, who, in a recent talk with Daily Tribune, said he was a big fan of Superman, the much-beloved DC Comics superhero character.
“I’ve always been an avid fan of Superman, particularly because of his abilities to help people, and I want to help people,” he said. “So much so that one time, I was walking in Cebu and found myself wishing I’d see a snatching incident because, given a chance, I’d chase after the snatcher, beat him up, and return what he snatched from his victims.”
Of course, he is not — never will be – Superman. But it is comforting to know that the man at the helm of Customs is someone who emulates his superhero idol in terms of service – dogged commitment to public service and fearless will to attain what is good for the Bureau and the country.
The results of Ruiz’s super-efforts are there for anyone to see: By the time 2022 came to a close, total collections generated by the BoC were a staggering P862.929 billion, far exceeding its P721.52 billion collection target by almost 20 percent. That amount was also 34 percent over the Bureau’s 2021 total revenue.
Furthermore, reports submitted by all 17 collection districts of the Bureau disclosed an impressive fact: For the first time in the BoC’s history, all ports met their revenue collection target.
Efforts to strengthen the Bureau’s risk profiling and inspection protocols resulted in a total of 729 seizures valued at P24.649 billion.
These seized goods were illegal drugs, agricultural products, counterfeit goods, used clothing, cigarettes, electronics, firearms, chemicals, fuel products, and foodstuff, among others.
There were 107 successful drug bust operations conducted jointly by the BoC and the PDEA, totaling P11.953 billion worth of shabu, ecstasy, liquid cannabis, marijuana, cocaine, and ketamine.
Seized smuggled agricultural products, including sugar, onions, carrots, and coffee, from 156 seizures reached an estimated P2.244 billion.
A total of 105 criminal cases against unscrupulous importers and unlawful customs brokers for the smuggling of goods were filed with the Department of Justice, even as the Bureau revoked the accreditation of 298 importers and 107 customs brokers violating provisions of Rep. Act. 10863 (Customs Modernization and Tariff Administration).
Modernizing operations
During the first year of Ruiz’s watch as Customs chief, the Customs Operations Center was institutionalized (September 2022). The COC serves as a central facility for the command and control of intelligence and enforcement operations of the Bureau’s 17 collection districts nationwide.
Also, in the same year, 11 BoC collection districts, four subports, and two offices were 1S0 9001:2015 certified; and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) recognized the BoC for posting a 100 percent compliance and resolution rate on all transactions referred to the Bureau’s Customer Assistance and Response Services (CARES) from the Contact Center ng Bayan of the CSC.
New tools and equipment for use in intensifying border protection efforts, such as portable trace detection systems, inspection camera laser liners, personal alarm dosimeters used for the safety of BoC personnel against radioactive devices, and portable radios for emergency responses and enforcement operations were purchased in Ruiz’s initial year as Customs chief.
Eager to continue efforts to modernize BoC operations through digitalization and Information and Communications technology, Ruiz implemented the following ICT systems within his first 100 days in office at the Bureau: the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document system, the National Customs Intelligence System, and the Payment Application Secure 6 system for more efficient payment facilitation, with more ICT projects in development.
Ruiz also signed a memorandum order providing guidelines and procedures for the ASEAN Customs Declaration Document as part of the Philippine commitment to implement the ASEAN Single Window Agreement. The ASEAN Single Window is a regional electronic platform that promotes ASEAN economic integration by enabling the electronic exchange of border trade-related documents among ASEAN member states.
In September 2022, the BoC and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific also jointly organized and convened the National Single Window Summit in support of President Marcos Jr.’s call to promote rapid digitalization to build, strengthen, and improve the efficiency of established industries, and to bolster the country’s post-pandemic recovery efforts and the continuity of businesses nationwide.
The summit aimed to expedite the advancement of single windows for the effective and efficient implementation of simplified, automated trade procedures.
“I strongly believe that the next generation of the Philippine National Single Window will make headway in boosting our country’s recognition of electronic data and documents toward a cross-border, paperless trade environment, making it easier to do business and enabling SMEs to gain a competitive advantage to markets overseas,” said Ruiz.
The thing with having set the bar exceptionally high for service and operations performance is that one has to strive even more to surpass what has been achieved. Such is the case regarding Ruiz’s first year as Customs chief. Will he exceed himself even more this year?
If one continues to have Superman in mind as one’s idol and unleashes the same super-efforts that have yielded the record-breaking year of 2022, then Ruiz looks set to continue to soar in 2023. ±DTHS