Customs at NAIA to get boost from new equipment

MANILA, Philippines - Passengers arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) no longer have to open their luggage for Customs inspection.

Newly appointed Customs District Collector Vincent Philip Maronilla said x-ray machines would be installed to scan the baggage of arriving passengers.

“We would be installing x-ray for baggage. There will be three x-ray machines at the NAIA Terminal 1 while there will be two x-ray machines for each of NAIA Terminals 2 and 3. This way, we would be able to avoid the opening of luggage if it does not contain anything suspicious,” Maronilla said.

He said this would also speed up processing since some passengers, with nothing to declare and no apparent contraband, would be allowed to breeze through the Customs check.

Maronilla said they would also look for ways to improve the services to benefit balikbayan Filipinos, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). 

Bureau of Customs (BOC)  personnel at the airport are not only catering to the release of cargoes that arrive at the airport but are also service-oriented since they deal directly with passengers.

“The OFWS would be our priority. I intend to provide special guidelines for the OFWs to provide them with the easiest procedure, within the bounds of the law. The inspection of balikbayan boxes would no longer be intrusive. This would be applicable not only for the OFWs but also to our kababayans as well because this is a privilege for Filipinos, whether they are already residing abroad or if they are OFWs,” Maronilla said. 

“If it (balikbayan box) is for personal consumption and within the de minimis value, Customs would no longer inspect it,” he added. “Our priority is the prohibited goods.”

Maronilla said they would rely on the information provided to them and do a quick profile on arriving passengers to determine who among them would have to go through a Customs check. 

OFWs who frequently travel and have good records with the BOC would not be subject to as much inspection as those considered high risk.

Maronilla, however, did not discount the possibility that an OFW might connive with a drug dealer in bringing in contraband goods. 

“All of this boils down to a good intelligence network. The apprehensions in NAIA are a product of good inter-agency coordination and intelligence sharing as well as (information coming from) other Customs authorities abroad,” he said.

Maronilla is currently reviewing the process at the BOC-NAIA that is different from the process at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) that he used to head.

At the NAIA, he would be working with his deputy collector Ruby Alameda, who was also his deputy collector when he was with the MICP.

“Ruby is a very competent deputy. She has always been one of those I depend on.”

This is the first time that they have been assigned to the NAIA.

Maronilla and Port of Manila (POM) District Collector Vener Baquiran were appointed by President Duterte last Dec. 1 but they were only able to assume their positions last Jan. 16.

He added the NAIA, along with the MICP, POM and Port of Batangas (POB), are entrusted by BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña to meet their collection targets. 

“We have a very tall order ahead of us, which is to collect P55 billion for the government. That is 9 percent of the 2018 BOC’s P598-billion target budget,” Maronilla said.