In every bureaucracy, there are the public-facing reformists—and then there are the enforcers, the ones who ensure that policies don’t remain pretty words on paper. At the Bureau of Customs, that role is carried by PBGen Nolasco K. Bathan (Ret.), the man currently serving as Deputy Commissioner for the Enforcement Group (EG).
And let’s set the record straight:
He does NOT head the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS).
He leads the entire Enforcement Group, the umbrella unit under which the ESS operates. It’s a crucial distinction—because the scope of his responsibility is far larger.
Appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June 2025, Gen. Bathan stepped into the BOC at a time when enforcement needed not just leadership, but battlefield-tested discipline. And that is exactly what he brought.
THE MARCOS-NEPOMUCENO ENFORCEMENT MANDATE
Working alongside Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno, Bathan sits at the highest levels of strategic coordination—where decisions impact the national fight against smuggling, drug trafficking, and intellectual property rights violations. His presence in inter-agency meetings is not ceremonial; it is operational.
He is one of the BOC’s senior leaders directly shaping how the Bureau tracks syndicates, cracks smuggling rings, and implements ground-level enforcement protocols.
FROM PNP GENERAL TO CUSTOMS ENFORCER
Gen. Bathan’s long and textured background in the Philippine National Police (PNP) is not just a résumé detail—it is the foundation of his current role.
He previously served as:
•District Director, Southern Police District (SPD)
•District Director, Eastern Police District (EPD)
•Deputy Regional Director for Operations, NCRPO
These are not desk jobs. These are assignments that require tactical judgment, command presence, and a readiness to handle high-pressure crises. His transition to BOC was not merely a shift in title—it was the continuation of a career defined by operational leadership.
A KEY PLAYER IN BOC’S MODERN ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY
At the BOC, Bathan also serves as the supervising deputy commissioner for the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Program, one of the agency’s flagship initiatives to tighten supply chain security while rewarding compliant stakeholders. Balancing facilitation and enforcement is no easy task—but Bathan handles it with the same quiet precision he honed in uniform.
His enforcement leadership now strengthens the backbone of Commissioner Nepomuceno’s broader reform drive—where integrity, coordination, and uncompromising discipline are treated as non-negotiables.
THE UNSUNG PILLAR OF BOC ENFORCEMENT
While others make headlines, Gen. Bathan is the kind of official who builds the operational systems that make those headlines possible. The big drug busts, counterfeit seizures, and anti-smuggling breakthroughs often rest on the groundwork laid by the Enforcement Group he commands.
In an agency where reform requires both strategy and force, PBGen Nolasco Bathan stands as one of the most crucial pillars—quiet, steady, and relentless in the mission.
If the Bureau of Customs today is more vigilant, more coordinated, and more formidable against smuggling syndicates, it is because men like Gen. Bathan are doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes.
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