Despite the exposé on the widespread corruption at the Bureau of Customs two years ago, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Wednesday the practice of “tara” or payoff system at the agency was continuing.
In a privileged speech, Lacson said he was informed just recently that the system had not been suppressed.
“Worse, for many Customs officials, it remains business as usual,” he said.
Lacson also rebuked the BOC and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for “dishonesty” in connection with its recent seizure of 146 kilos of crystal meth or “shabu” inside a warehouse in Malabon City.
The drugs were concealed inside a shipment of tapioca starch and aluminum pallets.
Lacson said the Office of the Commissioner at the BOC received an average of P5,000 per container, plus 10 percent of the collections of each section or office directly under it.
This is apart from an average of P3,000 in “tara” for Intelligence Group; P1,000 to P2,000 for the Enforcement Group; P3,000 for Risk Management Office; and P2,000 to P3,000 for Import and Assessment Service
“The ‘tara’ goes to whoever is in his office or the Office of the Commissioner. I will leave it to General [Rey Leonardo] Guerrero [the Customs Commissioner] to investigate and find out,” the senator said.
The Manila International Container Port and Port of Manila district offices, Lacson said, receive P3,000 per container, and each container with an alert order may be charged as high as P50,000.
“With the average of 2,000 and 7,000 containers transacted for release every week at both the Port of Manila and MICP, imagine how much ‘tara’ goes to the pockets of these insatiably corrupt Customs officials,” said Lacson.
Although Guerrero has remained untainted by corruption, Lacson said he could not say the same for many of the BOC chief’s subordinates.
He pointed out that totally weeding out corruption in the BOC is another standing challenge to Guerrero.
“To uphold your strong integrity and moral principle is a test of your character. The test of your leadership, on the other hand, is how your integrity and principles resound in the halls of your office and influence the actions and behavior of your subalterns. To fail in one is to fail in both,” the senator said.
The Filipino people “demand much from Guerrero’s leadership,” Lacson added.
“While I continue to vouch for your character as it remains unquestionable, some of your people are afflicted with severely debilitated credibility, which may eventually reflect on you and the institution that you lead and represent,” he said.
In 2017, Lacson said the BOC has become a haven for crooks as its officials, including then-Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon —a former military official himself—received payola.
He accused Faeldon’s office of supposedly receiving P5,000 to P10,000 in payola per container, which the latter denied.
Meanwhile, Lacson said the BOC and PDEA placed the shipment on auction, purportedly to “draw out possible members of the drug syndicates who may be interested in bidding on the drug shipment.”
He said the bureau should not have auctioned the shipment. Instead, it should have been destroyed under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act or Republic Act No. 10863.
“In this case, prohibited goods, including the shabu contained in 114 bags inside the aluminum pallets with tapioca starch, as provided in Section 1146 of this Act, should be destroyed, and therefore should not have been offered for sale in a public auction,” Lacson said.
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