Marcos wants bureaucratic reform to curb smuggling, ensure ease of doing business —PCO

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is eyeing a bureaucratic reform to curb smuggling, lower logistics costs, and ensure ease of doing business as he lamented that the current system is failing to address the pressing issues, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Saturday.

In a news release, the PCO said that Marcos had a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) wherein he said that the present system isn’t working, stressing that government agencies must do something particularly to address rampant smuggling.

“To be brutally frank about it, we have a system but they are not working. The smuggling here in this country is absolutely rampant. So it does not matter to me how many systems we have in place, they do not work,” said the President.

“So we really have to find something else. We cannot continue to depend on these systems which have already proven themselves to be quite ineffective,” added the chief executive.

The PCO said that Marcos reiterated that the systems currently in place “are not working,” whether it’s the way they’re being operated or the result of side deals by the people.

The President noted that the government cannot continue to sweep the issue under the rug because the cost to the state and private businesses is enormous, according to the PCO.

Issues on the ease of doing business and the inefficiency of the country’s airports and seaports are the major complaints he is receiving from the business sector, said Marcos.

Concerned agencies have to be more innovative, the President said, stressing the government has to delineate functions or establish new agencies if necessary to be effective.

One of the recommendations raised was opening up the database to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ensure the efficient sharing of information, according to the PCO.

The agency added that officials are suggesting a way of correlating information to fight smuggling as even enforcers have a problem going after smugglers because of the documentary requirements or the paper chase. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA Integrated News