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The Bureau of Customs unveiled plans to construct a new main office building in Manila
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The new facility is “part of the agency’s image building initiative and to improve working conditions for employees and stakeholders,” according to Customs commissioner Bienvenido Rubio
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The building will feature state-of-the-art facilities, including a comprehensive capacity-building center
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It could be constructed at the old Warehouse 159—which caught on fire in 2017—in Manila South Harbor
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Construction cost could be around P5 billion to P6 billion
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has unveiled plans to construct a new main office building in Manila.
The new building is “part of the agency’s image building initiative and to improve working conditions for employees and stakeholders,” Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio said in a speech during BOC’s 123rd founding anniversary celebration on February 7 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
The project primarily covers construction of a building that will feature state-of-the-art facilities, including a comprehensive capacity-building center, Rubio said.
“We planned this with the intention of bringing Customs to the forefront where it stands wide open. Ang aming ahensiya ay mananatiling bukas para sa lahat, handing tumugon at tumulong sa lahat nang pagkakataon (Our agency will be open to all, ready to respond and help at all times),” Rubio added.
BOC assistant commissioner Atty. Vincent Philip Maronilla, in an interview with PortCalls at the sidelines of the event, said the facility will likely be a multi-year project, with next year’s needs coming from the General Appropriations budget.
Maronilla said the building may cost P5 billion to P6 billion to build and could be constructed at the old Warehouse 159 in Manila South Harbor. He said they will ask the Philippine Ports Authority “to give it (land) to us.”
The current BOC central office is also in Manila South Harbor.
Maronilla said the new office building will be big enough to accommodate offices in BOC’s central office. It will have an open layout, and will be made accessible to the public. – Roumina Pablo
