The Bureau of Customs seized more than P20.5-billion worth of smuggled goods, mostly counterfeit goods, illegal drugs, and tobacco products as a result of its intensified campaign on dangerous contraband and anti-social goods.
In its fight against unscrupulous traders, the bureau under the leadership of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero was also able to file criminal cases against 345 importers and 75 customs brokers last year.
The agency also revoked the Customs accreditation of 196 importers and brokers for various offenses.
Among the achievements, based on the bureau’s 2019 report submitted to the Office of the Finance Secretary, were the seizure of P9.44 billion worth of counterfeit products, P3.59 billion-worth of illegal drugs, and P2.67 billion worth of cigarettes and tobacco products, accounting for a combined value of P15.7 billion or three-fourths of its total haul.
The other seized shipments consist of smuggled agricultural goods (P398.47 million), general merchandise (P59.87 million), vehicles and accessories (P106.55 million), used clothing (P66.86 million), steel products (P78.59 million), electronics (P21 million), goods and firearms (P815,000), currency (P35 million), and other products (P4.1 billion).
These accomplishments resulted from various programs initiated and enforced by Commissioner Guerrero in 2019 in line with the directive of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III for the bureau to step up its campaign against smuggling.
Preliminary data submitted earlier by the agency to the Department of Finance also showed that Customs was able to collect P630.571 billion in revenues in 2019, representing a 6.3 improvement over the P593 billion collection in 2018 or up by P37 billion.
The bureau’s collection efficiency remains consistent at 95.4 percent.
“The collection in 2019, apart from the efforts of our Collection Districts, is also attributed to revenue collection from issued Alert Orders amounting to more than P40.9 million, Post Clearance Audits with more than P2 billion collected revenue, and more than P527.9 billion from public auctions,” the agency stated in its report.
In trade facilitation, the agency finally joined the ASEAN Single Window for the exchange of the electronic Certificates of Origin (ATIGA e-Form D) with Malaysia and Indonesia.
The bureau also officially launched the Authorized Economic Operator Program to provide the bureau and its stakeholders with increased security while ensuring the seamless movement of goods.
On yard utilization, Customs was able to reduce this to 71.2 percent in the Port of Manila (POM) and 72.66 percent in the Manila International Container Port (MICP) “ to provide a facilitated trade environment to its stakeholders.”
Its online accreditation program also resulted in the accreditation of 17,760 importers and 2,241 customs brokers with zero backlog.
The Customs bureau also reported to the Department of Finance the following accomplishments for 2019:
• Issued a total of 147 show-cause orders against customs personnel for their non-compliance with existing customs rules and regulations, in which 152 were administratively charged, 20 dismissed, 8 suspended and 120 were pending decision with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman;
• Procured various logistical needs of the bureau which include eight Information and Communication Technology projects amounting to P340,42 million. The IT systems in these projects were developed and are now being utilized to automate frontline transactions along with four other systems that were upgraded;
• Conducted 269 trainings to further improve technical and operational capabilities of personnel, which benefited 5,481 participants. The bureau was also able to forge strong ties with other customs organizations with 80 total meetings/engagements attended locally and internationally;
• Hired and promoted 1,016 personnel to fill-up existing plantilla positions. From a personnel complement of 2,856 in October 2018, the bureau now has 3,425 personnel or a fill-up of 54.67 percent of the authorized 6,264 plantilla positions;
• On the provision of incentives, the agency recommended the payment of P345 million reward for surpassing the 2018 collection target of P584-billion by P1.4-billion;
• On enhancement of Cargo Clearance and Examination capabilities, it acquired a total of 58 x-ray machines during the year, bringing the total number of scanning equipment to 117;
• On intelligence and enforcement capabilities, Customs acquired state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and deployed the Cargo Targeting System to improve threat monitoring and detection and risk management;
• Issued 17 Customs Administrative Orders (CAOs), 53 Customs Memorandum Orders (CMOs), 356 memorandums, and 281 Customs Memorandum Circulars (CMCs) to codify and harmonize all customs implementing rules and regulations;
• Revised the Citizen’s Charter to reflect processes that were streamlined for the ease-of-doing-business law;
• Audited 9 of the 17 Collection Districts that resulted to an 82 percent compliance and resolution of the 45 Audit Observation Memorandums issued by the Commission on Audit;
• As part of its good governance program, the bureau enrolled into the Performance Governance System (PGS) of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA) and passed the initiated stage with a Gold Trailblazer Award during the ISA-Public Governance Forum held last Nov. 28, 2019.
Also, the agency received the Recognition of Excellence Award from the OpenGov, a Silicon Valley technology company that offers cloud-based software for public sector, budgeting, reporting and open data.
The bureau was likewise recognized by the Freedom of Information–Project Management Office under the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) as an FOI (Freedom of Information) Awardee for being a significant contributor to FOI’s progress and one of the top agencies in the Electronic Freedom of Information Portal.