There’s a new kind of energy pulsing inside the Bureau of Customs — and it’s not the usual bureaucracy. It’s the sound of enforcement getting real, of leadership standing its ground. And this week, that energy materialized in a ₱482-million blow against counterfeiters who thought they could outsmart the system.

Under the watch of Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno & Port of Manila District Collector Alexander Gerard E. Alviar, the BOC isn’t just chasing smugglers anymore — it’s rewriting what accountability looks like at the borders.

The operation, led by the Intellectual Property Rights Division and the Port of Manila, reads like a case study in smart enforcement. The shipments — over 1,200 boxes of fake branded apparel from Bangladesh — were disguised as socks, transshipped through Singapore, and slipped into Manila in August 2025. But thanks to solid intel and precise coordination, the BOC flagged the containers and, after a 100% inspection on October 9, exposed what was inside: a mountain of counterfeits bearing big names like Zara, Bench, Levi’s, H&M, Burberry, Lacoste, Jordan, Off-White, and Calvin Klein.

Market value? A staggering ₱482,625,000 — money that would have flooded gray markets, duped consumers, and hurt legitimate local retailers trying to play by the rules.

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Maronilla, Alviar, and the Anatomy of a Clean Hit

If Commissioner Nepomuceno’s leadership sets the tone, his lieutenants are playing it pitch-perfect.

Assistant Commissioner Atty. Vincent Philip “Jet” Maronilla, the Bureau’s steady hand on public affairs and IPR enforcement, called it what it is — a battle for integrity in trade.

“Counterfeit goods don’t just cheat consumers; they destroy honest businesses,” Maronilla said. “Every fake item we keep out of the market is a small victory for the Filipino worker and for fair competition.”

At the ground level, Port of Manila District Collector Alexander Gerard A. Alviar and his team turned intelligence into action. Alviar, who has quietly built a reputation for methodical, disciplined enforcement, oversaw the physical inspection that confirmed the misdeclaration and led to the Warrant of Seizure and Detention issued on October 28, 2025.

With CIIS Director Thomas Narcise and Field Station Chief Paul Oliver Pacunayen in the mix, this was the kind of inter-office coordination that used to be rare — and is now becoming the norm under a leadership built on trust and execution.

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Nepomuceno’s Signal: Clean Borders, Clean Governance

For Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno, this wasn’t just a catch — it was a statement.

“Every counterfeit item that crosses our borders undermines Filipino livelihoods,” he said. “Our mission is not only to enforce the law but to protect authenticity — in trade, in business, and in governance itself.”

Those words reflect a broader shift happening inside the BOC: a leadership that talks less about reform and actually shows it through decisive enforcement. Nepomuceno’s brand of governance leans on three things — integrity, modernization, and accountability.

He’s been consistent in linking the fight against smuggling to national economic health. Every shipment stopped, he argues, isn’t just a customs story — it’s a story about Filipino jobs, consumer trust, and public confidence in institutions that too often have been written off.

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A New Face of Customs

Gone are the days when “Customs seizure” meant a press release that vanished after the photo-op. Today, under Nepomuceno, Maronilla, and Alviar, operations like this one represent a broader doctrine — that enforcement must not only be efficient, but ethical.

Their teamwork tells a bigger story: that reform isn’t a slogan; it’s a system that works when the right people are in charge.

The counterfeit apparel bust isn’t just about ₱482 million in fake goods. It’s about restoring the real value of something harder to measure — public trust.

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Bottom Line

In a world flooded with fakes, the Bureau of Customs under Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno and Coll. Alviar is choosing to stand by what’s genuine — genuine governance, genuine service, genuine reform.

And if this operation is any indication, those peddling knockoffs — whether in trade or in leadership — had better take note: authenticity is back in power.

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