Government lost P234 billion to BOC corruption in 2 years

MANILA, Philippines — A House leader yesterday pushed for a legislative inquiry on the illegal practices at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) that he said had cost the government P234 billion in losses in just two years.

Deputy Speaker and Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta has proposed an investigation in the House of Representatives on the controversial “benchmarking” and “tara” systems in BOC.

“Benchmarking is the fastest way of clearing and releasing shipment at the port of entry aggravated by the tara system that allows bribes from importers and brokers as if this is normal, tolerable and acceptable,” his resolution read.

Marcoleta said he personally examined BOC records and reports and found that the agency lost an estimated P234 billion in collections in 2016 and 2017 due to these corrupt practices, where values of shipment are being altered and fake commercial invoices and packing lists are being used as bases in computation of duties and taxes by customs brokers for the release of shipment to the consignee.

He revealed that BOC data showed a pattern of corruption over the period from January 2016 to November 2017 and indicated some evidence of the said illegal practices.

The lawmaker explained that a House inquiry is necessary to dig deeper into this issue with the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Internal Revenue to conduct investigation and audit, respectively, on some 283 importers, 166 customs brokers, 272 examiners and 145 appraisers that supposedly benefited from the scheme.

Marcoleta said his proposed legislative inquiry is an offshoot of the congressional investigation in August 2017 on the alleged syndicated and technical smuggling of P6.4 billion worth of shabu.