MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino on Monday described as a "slap in the face" various reports of alleged smuggling activities and other anomalies in the Bureau of Customs.

Speaking before the bureau's 110th anniversary, Aquino said he had to rewrite his speech to reveal some of the most recent anomalies alleged committed by BOC personnel.

These include:

- a Customs clerk who owns a Porsche on a P10,000/month salary
- a businessman who engages in the buying and selling of luxury vehicles, including firearms 
- a Customs official caught in the US for selling high-powered firearms including rocket-propelled grenades and mortars
- the "disappearance" of 2,000 container vans
- losses of P40 billion a year due to oil smuggling

Aquino said the government recently spent P4 billion to build 21,800 houses for soldiers. With P40 billion, he said the government could have built 218,000 houses.

"Half of our problem with informal settlers could have been fixed with just the revenue from the VAT on oil and we haven't even started talking about rice," he said.

The President also revealed another story of a person who owned an expensive wristwatch, one of only 5 in the world, because he was "one of the biggest rice and sugar smugglers in the country."

"Bawat marinig po nating ito ay parang sinasampal ang mukha mo. At kaya ko naman sigurong magpasampal sa mukha kung para naman sa bayan. Ang hindi ko pwedeng matanggap ay sasampalin ang kailangan ng sambayanan, yuyurakan ang mga taong nagbigay sa atin ng pagkakataong maglingkod sa kanila, Hindi po pe-pwede yan," he said.

Aquino said Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Budget Secretary Butch Abad are now working on a productivity incentive bonus that will directly benefit a government employee that improves government systems.

He also said he is confident that Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon and Deputy Commissioner Danny Lim can institute the reforms sorely needed in the bureau.

He said that under their leadership, the bureau has so far filed 59 cases against suspected smugglers before the Department of Justice.