EDITORIAL - Monitoring crooks

Ban pockets in uniforms, take out desk drawers, and install more closed-circuit television cameras in offices. These were the suggestions of one of the candidates for vice president when asked about measures to curb corruption in the Bureau of Customs.

The reported reaction of a representative of BOC employees was revealing: he said they opposed the installation of additional CCTVs, and that a better way to reduce corruption would be to raise salaries in the bureau. Almost all government workers, however, also complain of low pay. Many of them do not use this as an excuse for corruption.

Customs officials in recent years have automated numerous processes and transactions to cut red tape and opportunities for collecting grease money. Still, crooks in the bureau continue to keep finding ways to go around the procedures and make money illegally.

In such a situation, any measure that may discourage graft should be implemented. This week the BOC announced that it has allocated P20 million to install more CCTVs at Customs offices in the ports of Manila, Batangas, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. The measure must push through.

In the age of ATMs and digital banking, handing over cash apparently remains the preferred mode of paying grease money in government offices. It leaves no paper trail and deniability is easier in case a complaint is filed.

BOC officials can also implement measures to minimize employees’ personal discretion in assessing shipments and imposing the corresponding duties and other fees. This should be easier with tariffs going down around the world, and with the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community.

The daang matuwid administration failed to eradicate corruption in the bureau that has been consistently ranked as one of the most crooked. But the administration can lay the foundations for discouraging corruption in the BOC.