Philippine president puts Customs under military control, citing drugs

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine president put the Bureau of Customs temporarily under military control after two large shipments of illegal drugs slipped past the agency through the port of Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte made the announcement late Sunday in an expletive-laden speech in southern Davao city before an audience that included visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

At one point, Duterte made a rude finger gesture and uttered a profanity.

Duterte cited “a state of lawlessness” that he declared following a deadly 2016 bombing to justify putting the military in control of the customs bureau.

The agency’s officials will be put on a “floating status” and be required to conduct their work in a gymnasium in the presidential palace complex, he said.

The agency, which collects import duties and taxes for the Department of Finance, has more than 3,000 officials, customs police and employees nationwide.

“Part of the lawless elements are there inside the Bureau of Customs,” Duterte said.

“With this kind of game that they are playing, dirty games, I am forced now to ask the armed forces to take over.”

Military chief of staff Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr. ordered a contingent “of unquestionable integrity” from the army, air force, navy and marines to be organized to comply with the order by Duterte, who also named a retired military chief to lead the customs bureau.

But opposition politicians questioned the legality of the president’s move, citing the constitutional principle of the supremacy of civilian authority over the military.

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