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Friday, March 29, 2024

Faeldon eyes 24-hour Customs operations

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Incoming Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon said Monday he would support night shifts and 24-hour operations in the agency to improve its level of service. 

Faeldon, together with incoming Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, met with the transition team of outgoing Customs commissioner Alberto Lina Monday and suggested several reform measures to promote transparency in the bureau. 

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte named Dominguez, a former agriculture secretary, as the new secretary of the Finance Department, in place of Cesar Purisima. Dominguez will oversee a powerful Cabinet position that will supervise both the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Customs Bureau. 

Duterte also named Faeldon, a former Philippine Marines captain who joined the Oakwood Mutiny in 2003, as the new commissioner of BOC, tagged as one of the most corrupt agencies in government.

Faeldon suggested several reform measures to promote transparency in the BOC, such as using the US trade transparency unit as best practice to deliver more accurate pricing of products from other countries such as China. 

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He cited the need to purchase proper scanning systems and recommended the daily monitoring of shipment valuation.

Faeldon said that instead of setting Customs collection targets based on percentage of the economy, performance indicators should also contain grading on ease of doing business and facility of trade. 

Meanwhile, Dominguez warned officials of the BOC that the next administration would not tolerate corruption. 

The BOC, an attached agency of the DOF, is mandated to assess and collect customs revenues, curb illicit trade and customs fraud, as well as facilitate trade through an efficient and effective customs management system.

It oversees 17 collection districts: four in Mindanao, three in the Visayas and 10 in Luzon, including the Port of Manila, Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Manila International Container Port where the bulk of transactions are recorded.

“President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is clear on his mandate to go after crime, drugs, and corruption. The perception of Customs as the most corrupt agency has to stop,” Dominguez said. 

“Beginning now, tell your staff we will not tolerate this. Complaints are coming from people who are honest. Remember, this election was about issues. That’s why our candidate won even if he spent only 40 percent of what other presidentiables spent,” Dominguez told Customs officials.

Dominguez cited a personal example where one of his companies, Halifax Davao Hotel Inc., was offered lower taxation by a Customs official in exchange for a split in the tax savings.

“We would prefer to pay the full amount to the government as the payment would not make us poor, so we did not cheat,” he said. 

Dominguez also expressed dismay over the fact that no culpable Customs officer had been fired so far. “Have you done enough entrapment operations,” Domiguez asked.

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