BOC smugglers tagged

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Under-the-table deals between corrupt examiners, appraisers and other frontline personnel at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and several big-time traders are the cause of the agency’s failure to meet its revenue collection goals, according to a newly appointed official of the bureau.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Inquirer that among the big-time traders were three people whom BOC insiders call “Big Mama,” “Ma’am T” and “Mr. T.”

“And like Napoles, these players make a lot of people at the Bureau of Customs happy with regular payoffs in exchange for the undervaluation of their imported goods,” the official said, referring to detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles, the alleged brains behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam.

The source assailed a fellow official who, he said, interceded on behalf of one of the traders, resulting in millions of pesos in revenue losses for the government.

“Instead of paying P200,000-plus per container for their imported plastic manufacturing materials, the trader paid only a little over P130,000 per container, or customs revenue losses of about P70,000 per container,” the source said.

He identified the official, but asked this reporter not to disclose the name.

The source said the irregularities were “clear proof” that corrupt customs personnel just ignored President Aquino’s warning to them to shape up or get out.

In his State of the Nation Address in July, the President singled out personnel of the BOC, the Bureau of Immigration and the National Irrigation Administration for incompetence and corruption.

No effect

“Where do these people get the gall?” Aquino said, referring to customs officials and employees who abetted the smuggling of imported goods into the country’s ports, resulting in billions of pesos in revenue losses for the government.

“If you can’t do your job, you do not deserve to remain in office,” the President said.

Apparently, those words failed to hit home at the BOC, which the Aquino administration had been trying to reform since it came to office in June 2010.

In a report titled “Uproot Corruption, Reboot Customs,” the Department of Finance noted “a long history of backroom deals, institutionalized theft and impunity [has] made the Bureau of Customs one of the most prominent faces of corruption in [the] government.”

But “this is beginning to change with drastic shifts in leadership, personnel and processes already taking place as a result of the administration’s reform agenda,” the report said.

“Our aim is to revitalize the bureaucracy, uproot the culture of corruption and jump-start a virtuous cycle of integrity and true public service in the (bureau),” it said.

Corruption deeply rooted

But the reforms the administration introduced in BOC proved to be ineffective, with the corrupt personnel using their longevity in service as an armor against reform. Shuffled personnel are challenging their reassignment in the Court of Appeals, delaying reform and extending their stay at their lucrative posts.

Early this month, then Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon admitted in an interview with the Inquirer that the same culture of corruption made it difficult to curb smuggling.

Biazon described corruption in the agency as “severe and deeply rooted.”

A 2012 audit ordered by Biazon showed that a significant number of the estimated 17,000 customs-accredited importers turned out to be fictitious.

“This does not only mean serious inefficiency but also corruption in the bureau,” said Biazon, who resigned three weeks ago after being implicated in the pork barrel scam. He is formerly a congressman, representing Muntinlupa City.

Biazon’s successor, John Phillip Sevilla, a former undersecretary of finance, told BOC personnel to “stop smuggling, collect the right customs duties and taxes from importers and serve agency stakeholders well without expecting anything in return.”

Whether his words had any effect on the contacts of “Big Mama,” “Ma’am T” and “Mr. T” in the bureau remains to be seen.

November collection

The BOC’s public information and assistance division (PIAD) said in a statement that “revenue collection in November reached P28.25 billion, up 19 percent over revenues in the same month last year.”

It credited the “influx of Yuletide season importation” for the increase in collections.

“While total collections for the previous month were P2.8 billion short of the P31.05-billion target, the revenue-generating efforts of the [Bureau of Customs] grew at its fastest pace this year,” it said.

The PIAD also reported that the collection districts of Subic, Aparri and Iloilo were the “biggest gainers” for the month, while 11 other districts exceeded their monthly targets.

For Sevilla, that was an indication that reforms in the agency were beginning to result in changes for the better.

In a statement, Sevilla said he was “pleased that the reforms we have been undertaking are taking root as the situation at the agency stabilizes.”

“The surge in our collections is an indication that there is still much room for the Bureau of Customs to improve its performance. As we [continue to] streamline operations, maximize efficiency and review our processes, we are optimistic that our revenue growth momentum will speed up,” he said.

Still short

During the past 11 months, the BOC collected more than P280 billion, P20 billion short of what Biazon called the agency’s “internal motivational mark” of P300 billion, but still P40 billion short of its annual target of P340 billion.

This month, the BOC aims to collect nearly P27.9 billion in revenue.

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