Jail them

Over at the Bureau of Customs, they have already compiled a list of nearly a hundred suspected smugglers. The alleged smugglers are reportedly politicians' relatives, government officials and media personnel.

But the BOC has not revealed their identities as there's an ongoing investigation. The names on the list are said to have offered bribes to Customs officials to look the other way as they move the contraband out of the gates of various ports without paying the proper duties and taxes.

We know that smuggling is the cause of the failure of the Customs bureau to meet its monthly and annual revenue collection targets. The smugglers are said to pay only P60,000 to P80,000 for the taxes and duties of each container even when the standard rate is P120,000. The difference  between what they paid for each container and the standard rate is used to bribe Customs officials.

Some 16,178 containers were reported smuggled out of Customs in January 2015 alone. Hence, the total amount of bribes during that period was at least P161.7 million, if P10,000 was forked out as bribery in each instance.

No less than a top-ranking Customs official has admitted that there is still corruption in the Bureau but that it has been substantially reduced. Really? The question is, will Department of Finance take action and file the appropriate charges against those in the list of alleged smugglers?

The Customs bureau has long been tagged as among the top corrupt agencies in the government. But the under-the-table deals have not stopped even with changes in Customs hierarchy. President Aquino recently appointed the fourth  Customs chief after the three previous ones all failed to reform the bureau. Will it be any different this time, with less than one year to go before another Customs chief steps in? –End-

Image by: CRUSA