Casiño: Plan to abolish Customs is foolish

Senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – A “foolish, knee-jerk response” is how senatorial candidate Teddy Casiño described the reported plan of the Aquino administration to abolish and privatize the Bureau of Customs to address the issue of widespread smuggling.

“It’s like saying we should abolish and privatize Congress or Malacañang for failing to stop corruption. In the first place, the smugglers are all from the private sector so it is like asking vampires to run the blood bank,” he said in a press statement on Saturday.

The three-term representative of the Bayan Muna partylist said the correct response would be “to hold Customs officials, including their protectors in Congress and the Executive, accountable for the crime of smuggling.”

“Most of the time, Customs [officials] are put in a tight spot because the smugglers each have their own protectors in Congress, the Senate and

the Palace. If the protectors are not held accountable, any revamp in Customs will be for naught,” Casiño said.

He said it was President Benigno Aquino III who should first make the “political decision” to stop smuggling even if it meant tangling with his politician and businessmen friends, and to appoint a no-nonsense official to do the job.

“[Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino] Biazon’s resignation or the abolition of the agency would not be enough to curb smuggling because the protectors of smuggling remain unscathed,” Casiño said.

“The proposal is a non-solution and merely diverts attention from the real problem of smuggling,” he said.

Casiño called on Mr. Aquino to fire Biazon for failing to stop rampant smuggling in the country.

He said the Bureau of Customs was tasked not only to enhance revenue collection but to effectively curb smuggling and to provide quality service to stakeholders with professionalism and integrity, based on the agency’s mission and vision statement.