‘Good’ news at BOC: Smaller bribes

GOING RATE From P35,000 per shipment involving just one office, which was the going rate in October last year, the bribe for expediting the release of cargo at the Bureau of Customs is now down to P5,000, according to BOC officials. —INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

“Tara” (bribe money) is still pervasive in the Bureau of Customs (BOC), but there may be a reason for relief.

The amount is now down to P5,000 per shipment just for one office, from P35,000 in October last year, according to BOC officials.

Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero on Thursday appealed to importers, brokers and other port users to veer away from the tara system—the payment of bribe money to facilitate the release of cargo.

At a press conference, where he presented the BOC’s 10-point agenda for 2019, Guerrero said the fight against graft and corruption in the agency was a two-way process.

“We can’t do it on our own. They say ‘there is no corrupt [official] if there’s no corrupter,” said the retired military general, who was appointed to the BOC in October last year amid public furor over tons of crystal meth allowed to enter the country through the BOC.

Guerrero, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, said some importers and brokers were the ones encouraging the tara system.

“Some do that by paying off [collectors]. While some … insist on giving tara to help facilitate their shipments,” he said.

Partners

For him, brokers and importers are the BOC’s partners who must do their part in fighting the tara system to ensure that government efforts to improve policies and procedures on shipments will succeed.

“But if they would encourage [the tara system] then nothing will happen,” Guerrero said.

By giving tara, the port users are susceptible to false promises, he said.

He cited his team’s discovery on Tuesday of a quotation sheet being passed around that set the tara per shipment at P5,000 for the commissioner’s office.

Syndicates

The sheet also contained other BOC offices and names.

What’s bothersome is that his office does not accept a bribe, yet it is being dragged by syndicates, Guerrero said.

“People are falsely accused [of receiving bribe money], but is that true? Or are these tara collectors just pocketing the money for themselves?” the top customs official said.

The amount of tara per container, however, is smaller by P30,000 compared with P35,000 in October.

Guerrero attributed the decline to the removal of “big fishes” that were behind the system.

Some of them were still around but mostly “downline,” he said, referring to inspectors.