BOC Cares formed to address concerns

Starting June, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) will have a dedicated unit, dubbed “BOC Cares,” that will address port stakeholders’ concerns and complaints through call center and social media operations.

The Customer Assistance and Response Services unit will formally begin operations on June 14, although pilot testing of the services  has been ongoing for a few weeks now, said Belle Maestro, head of the BOC’s public information and assistance division.

In a May 23 order, Customs Commissioner Alberto D. Lina said the BOC Cares unit would be operating 24/7 or at least from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays to Fridays.

The unit will be tasked to serve as the “front line for stakeholder interaction providing efficient and effective mechanism to address BOC related inquiries and concerns of transacting public,” Lina said in Customs Memorandum Order No. 10-2016.

BOC Cares will have client service representatives, officers as well as a resolutions team who would facilitate customer service management, Lina said.

The members of the BOC Cares unit will attend to incoming calls from a soon-to-be-installed toll-free hotline number as well as manage the agency’s social media accounts.

They will also have to make call backs to resolve stakeholders’ concerns and inquiries.

The formation of the BOC Cares unit is part of initiatives being undertaken by the BOC to better serve the public amid a lingering reputation that some personnel remain corrupt.