Mafnas: I don’t deserve this

Jose Mafnas

Jose Mafnas, who was the director of the Division of Customs and Biosecurity for over seven years, was abruptly removed from his post yesterday as head of Customs and reassigned to the Department of Commerce in a move that he sees as a demotion.

In a last-minute news briefing yesterday, Mafnas said he was served a memorandum from Finance Secretary David DLG Atalig at around 2:30pm that reassigns him effectively immediately as director of Export, Importation and Public Outreach under the Department of Commerce.

No acting Customs director has been named as of presst ime.

Mafnas said that, to his knowledge, the position he was reassigned to does not exist and believes the reassignment is a demotion that he does not deserve.

“Effective tomorrow, I will be transferred out of Customs to a division that is non-existent. I wasn’t even given any time to pack and vacate my office. To receive such a drastic action effective tomorrow, this is an injustice to me, to the employees. I honestly don’t deserve this kind of treatment. Not even a phone call. This leads me to ask: Is this a sincere movement? I don’t think so; it’s not a sincere movement,” he said.

Mafnas, who took over as Customs director back in 2013, said the only question he has is “why” because he believes he helped reduce the amount of crystal methamphetamine on Saipan significantly during his tenure, while also aiding in rebuilding Customs from the ground up.

“I’ve done a lot for the division. When I came in in 2013, the Division of Customs was a mess and the entire island was infected with crystal meth. Back then in 2013, methamphetamine was at $50 to $75 per gram and there was a lot of uncollected tax. But when I came in in 2013, in that first fiscal year, collection went up by more than half a million dollars. The second year, it went up by $10 million. I helped rebuild this division back up, not by myself, but with a good team of people…and I’m proud to say that the Division of Customs and now Biosecurity is now one of the best in the government,” he said.

Another slap in the face, Mafnas said, was the email sent to the Customs graduation planning committee telling them to completely remove him from the program as he was supposed to give remarks at the ceremony next week.

“The graduation of the 9th cycle academy is next week Monday and I was scheduled to give the welcoming remarks. But what insulted me more is that secretary of Finance emailed the planners for the graduation ceremony informing them to remove my name from the program and not to include me at all. I’ve been with these cadets for four months. I’ve been talking to them heart to heart,” he said.

When asked what he plans to do, he said he will fight for himself, for the division, and for those who may suffer the same fate in the near future.

“I’m going to confront this. I will not let this go easy. It’s not about my job. It’s not about my position as director of Customs. It’s to make sure that others will not be treated the same way. I’m sure other directors will probably receive the same letter if I keep quiet. But I’m not going to be quiet, I’m going to be loud. I am not going to allow these people to do this. I’m a civil service employee. I know my rights. I’ve been through this battle before and I will defend my rights. I will defend not my position, but justice and the principle behind this,” he said.

Mafnas entered the Division of Customs as a trainee back in 1984 and climbed the ladder until he was appointed as director back in 2013.