Malacañang has recalled the promotion of a lawyer in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) as head of the Port of Manila (PoM) and ordered his reassignment to a smaller port.

In a confidential letter, Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales was asked by Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III to reassign lawyer and PoM district collector Rogel Gatchalian to another port.

Speaking on a condition of anonymity, a Customs official said the reassignment of Gatchalian was part of an agreement reached during the 42nd NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) meeting held last October in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The same source quoted President Arroyo as saying, “I approved his appointment as Collector VI but I did not approve his designation as Port of Manila collector, so assign him to a smaller port.”

But the official said Morales has not yet acted on the recall order of Malacañang since Gatchalian is currently assigned at PoM and he still performing his functions a month after the meeting.

Morales said he was not aware of such recall order and it has not reached his office yet. “What I heard was the President said those district collector who will resist E2M (electronic to mobile) implementation shall be going to a smaller port.” “What can I do if there is really an order? We to have to implement it,” Morales added.

It would be recalled that six Customs officials had asked President Arroyo to recall Gatchalian's appointment questioning his lack of civil service qualifications and citing charges filed with the Ombudsman.

“A person with many pending criminal and administrative cases at the Office of the Ombudsman will not make a good collector considering that he has already made enemies with the transacting public like brokers and importers,” they said.

Among those who petitioned him were lawyer and former PoM district collector Arnel Alcaraz, Port Deputy Collector for Assessment and lawyer Remedios Espinosa; lawyer Ma. Lourdes V. Mangaoang, head of X-ray Inspection Project; Port of Batangas Collector Juan Tan, among others.