Ruffy Biazon: Review Bureau of Customs’ functions, mandate

A lawmaker on Sunday stressed the need to further review the functions of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) as a revenue-collecting body of the government.

This, following recommendations for the bureau's replacement amid the controversy over the P6.4 billion worth of shabu smuggled into the country.

"The best thing for the Legislature to do in the aftermath of the Customs shabu hearings is to proceed with an inquiry into the mandate, functions, organization, policies, procedures and processes in order to learn and understand what are the ideal conditions for BOC to perform effectively, the difficulties and challenges the agency faces, the weaknesses and loopholes that are exploited by the corrupt, and the shortcomings of government in supporting the Bureau to fulfill its mandate," Muntinlupa Representative Ruffy Biazon said in a statement.

"While suggestions and recommendations at this point are welcome, the judgment on which one is the best for the BOC will only be arrived at after a thorough and objective study and review," he added.

Following the conclusion of its inquiry into the multi-billion peso shabu shipment, the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs recommended the passage of a legislation replacing the BOC.

The House panel emphasized the need for a new revenue collecting agency "to avoid corruption and to increase revenue collection."

"A system may include fixing a one-time payment of import/export fees that would include duties/taxes, storage, warehousing, arrastre services and all expenses relative to importation/exportation," the committee report read.

The new system should also strengthen the border control function as it provides  a convenient flow of goods.

But for Biazon, the inquiries have only discovered the surface-level problems of the bureau, which are merely "symptoms and manifestations of the sickness" of the agency.

"I would caution against prescribing a cure without fully knowing and understanding the roots of the symptoms and manifestations through an in-depth study of the conditions inside the agency and its processes and procedures," he said.

"As the country has experienced in the past, solutions have been imposed on the BOC which have not yielded the ideal outcomes, not because the ideas were bad, but simply because they did not directly address the root cause," he added.

Biazon suggested to look back at House Resolution No. 1 he filed in June 2016, seeking information about the status of the BOC's automation program.

"Although the BOC is already computerized, there is a need for upgrading and plugging the loopholes in the current system," he said.

"As a former Commissioner of Customs who served for two years and two months, I can share with the House of Representatives my knowledge, views and experience from the unique perspective as a head of the agency who faced the challenges of reforming and transforming an agency long suffering from distrust by the public," he added.

Biazon was Customs Commissioner from 2011 to 2013, when he resigned after he was named respondent in a malversation complaint in connection with the pork barrel scam. — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News