Mr. Paulino Elevado Has Surfaced, Reported to BOC
Mr. Paulino Elevado, the Customs clerk who was driving a Porsche and chased a couple of youths while shooting at them, has finally surfaced.
Prior to appearing before me at my office, Mr. Elevado contacted me via text and conveyed his desire to explain his side of the story. At that time, I had already given him a deadline to report to me otherwise, he would be declared Absent Without Leave and therefore qualify to be dropped from the rolls of BOC employees.
The Customs Administrative Aide has been under suspension since the time that the incident was made known to me, prior to the media reports that came out. He last reported for work on January 25 and has been absent until today.
Mr. Elevado selectively gave his side of the story, claiming the right to remain silent about certain matters on the advise of his counsel. His lawyer, Atty. Jeff Sarate was not present during our interview of Mr. Elevado.
He will now be assigned to the Human Resource Department to do actual messengerial and clerical work while the investigation is ongoing. I have instructed the appropriate office in the BOC to prepare any and all charges we can file against him under existing laws and regulations applicable to the situation.
As I have stated from the beginning, I will not spare Mr. Elevado from the rightful and legal penalty that he deserves. He has undermined my efforts to reform the Bureau of Customs and has tarnished the name of each and every employee and official of the agency. He offended people who are personally known to me as well as offended society which has been expecting government personnel to be true public servants instead of abusing the authority vested in them.
At this point, I am hoping that the criminal aspect of his case will be pursued not just by the family he and his companion offended, but also by the other appropriate government agencies who can and are mandated to enforce the law.