Regular reshuffle eyed to curb corruption at BOC

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Romero Quimbo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has proposed a regular reshuffle of Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials and employees every three years to curb corruption at the agency.

But the reassignment of officials at the bureau has proven to be a contentious affair, with some Customs collectors choosing to cling on to their posts and even going to court to prevent their superiors from transferring them to another office.

In her recommendation to the House ways and means committee, De Lima said the continuous transfer of BOC personnel, down to the lowest-ranked, to new areas every three years would prevent them from becoming too familiar with their jurisdictions, which could foster irregularities.

De Lima made the recommendations upon the request of the committee, which is tackling several measures seeking to strengthen the antismuggling mechanisms in the country’s Tariff and Customs Code.

“In order to achieve the primary goal of obliterating corruption at the BOC, the sense of familiarity with one customs location should be prevented. It is, therefore, suggested that the tenure of customs officials in one station be limited to a term of three years wherein he will be transferred to another station for another three years, continuously until after his retirement from government service,” De Lima was quoted as saying by a House statement.

Attrition law

House Ways and Means Committee chair Rep. Romero Quimbo backed De Lima’s suggestion, saying that it was one step to prevent familiarization.

But Quimbo added that more needs to be done to clean up the bureau, such as implementing the attrition law that seeks to eradicate corruption and penalizes customs officials who fail to meet their collection targets.

“But the corruption is not only with the officials. It’s cultural and deeply rooted in every nook and cranny of the agency. A more out of the box approach is needed,” he said in a text message.

“A wide and extensive retirement program and a full implementation of the customs attrition law should be carried out,” he added.

De Lima also told the House committee that her push for the regular reshuffle of customs personnel was in line with the recommendations of the World Customs Organization and other international groups.

Other proposals by these groups include the adoption of an objective recruitment and promotion process, provision of regular professional training to customs officers, provision of sufficient salaries and social benefits, and granting of incentive payments.

De Lima also said the country needs a new Tariff and Customs Code that would better address the needs of modern trade and commerce.

“And in light of public clamor over rampant corruption in the BOC, a new tariff and customs law that will address the widespread violation of the former tariff and customs code due to the incoherence and inconsistencies in its provisions should be a top priority of Congress,” she said.

One of the pending bills in the House ways and means committee seeks to amend the Tariff and Customs Code by prescribing stronger fines and jail terms for those involved in unlawful importation, with the harshest penalty of reclusion perpetua and a maximum of P50 million in fines for those who smuggle items worth P50 million and above.

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