A lawmaker on Thursday criticized the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for being “unprepared” to address large-scale cigarette smuggling, citing the agency’s failure to send its chief and submit a presentation during a House of Representatives inquiry.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said the bureau’s lack of preparation was evident when it appeared before the House Committee on Ways and Means on Wednesday without Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno and without a formal letter explaining his absence.
“I notice most of the invited guests like the Department of Finance, the BIR, so forth and so on eh dumating po sila dito prepared (they arrived prepared),” Chua said.
“But, unfortunately, for the Bureau of Customs aside from the fact wala po yung kanilang commissioner, wala po silang presentation (their commissioner is not here, they also don’t have a presentation).”
“It seems they are not prepared despite the more than five days of invitation. So, maybe that is precisely the reason bakit tayo nalulusutan ng mga smuggling. Mukha iyong simpleng ganito parang hindi nila napaghandaan (why smuggling gets through us. It seems they are unprepared even for something as simple as this),” he added.
Chua’s remarks came after Reps. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro and Miro Quimbo of Marikina reprimanded BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Romeo Allan Rosales over Nepomuceno’s absence.
Rodriguez said a formal letter from the commissioner explaining his absence was required.
“It is the rule of the committee in the event there is a reason that is beyond your control that you can’t attend, at the very least advise the committee because after all the committee is only here to help the agencies perform its job,” said Quimbo, the panel chair.
“But for the record, we didn’t receive any letter coming from the commissioner although we were informally informed,” he added.
The committee is investigating the surge in illicit tobacco trade, which Quimbo described as “the new POGO,” referring to the now-banned Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations.
Rosales apologized for the lack of a presentation, saying the hearing coincided with Nepomuceno’s speaking engagement at an Anti-Red Tape Authority event.
“Mr. Chair, my apologies for not being able to put up a presentation but we have here, we collated all the data regarding all smuggling operations, all apprehensions of cigarette and tobacco products and all the cases filed and the cases existing now,” Rosales told the panel.
