THE BUREAU of Customs is having an on-going inventory of seized phones and computers to check the gadgets available to be donated to the Department of Education to support distance and online learning.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero told Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III the BOC still has seized smuggled mobile phones stored at the Manila International Container Port and the Port of Manila.

However, BOC is still checking if these gadgets can be donated.

“We are just conducting an inventory, and seeking clearance from the National Telecommunications Commission if these can be donated,” Guerrero said during a recent DOF Executive Committee meeting.

Since mobile devices are classified as regular items, Guerrero said the BOC needed to first secure the clearance of NTC for the donation of the cellular phones.

In January, the BOC formally turned over 198 units of laptops and 4,840 smartphones that it seized during a joint operation conducted with personnel of the Clark Development Corp. to Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

The finance chief also assured Briones the DOF and its attached agencies will support DepEd’s efforts to ensure that Filipino learners continue their schooling with its blended learning program.