An aggressive push for reforms and the introduction of policies that will streamline the operations of the country’s ports mainly through automation had led to collection milestones ahead of the Bureau of Custom’s 121st founding day.
Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz earlier ordered a more aggressive implementation of the Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo or E-TRACC System which he envisioned as the solution to smuggling through the efficient monitoring of the movement and location of containers.
Of 50,698 completed trips recorded by E-TRACC in one month, less than 10 alarms were reported, indicating attempts of diversion, customs fraud, and other illegal activities were lessened.
“E-TRACC is highly effective and a powerful deterrent against diversion and smuggling,” Ruiz said.
“We must not, however, rest easy but the falling number of attempts for illegal activities must be taken as a sign for the Bureau of Customs to work even harder to maximize technology and aim for ‘0’ alarm on our E-TRACC System,” Ruiz emphatically added.
The E-TRACC System enables real-time monitoring of the inland movement of containerized goods using an Information and Communications Technology-enabled system.
This includes a GPS-enabled tracking device to secure its transport to the intended destination. The system also has a state-of-the-art alarm feature than can detect diversion and tampering.
The E-TRACC System was launched through the issuance of Customs Memorandum Order 04-2020.
“Bureau of Customs personnel, with the guidance and support of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., will remain steadfast in our duty to protect the country’s borders against all forms of smuggling and customs fraud,” Ruiz stressed.
The stream of reforms at the BoC resulted in unprecedented achievements including, lately, exceeding the January collection target by 11.79 percent or P7.415 billion in its January 2023 revenue target.
Based on a preliminary report released on Friday, the bureau collected a total of P70.327 billion last month, exceeding its goal of P62.911 billion.
The collection is 20.53 percent or P11.98 billion higher than the revenue posted during the same month in 2022 at P58.346 billion.
At the same time, the BoC reported that for January 2023, it has conducted 36 apprehensions among different ports, with approximately P908.137 million worth of various commodities seized based on provisions of Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Among the seized goods were P794.463 million worth of smuggled agricultural products and P104.833 million worth of illegal drugs which proved both products have been the favored commodities of syndicates.
Since Ruiz took the helm at the bureau he had ordered a sustained efficiency effort by heightening border protection measures and strengthening its anti-smuggling program to ensure optimal revenue collections.
He also continued to modernize and initiate policy reforms to combat Customs fraud and corruption and facilitate trade in line with the eight-point socioeconomic agenda of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Among the recent seizures were in the BoC-Port of Zamboanga where P18.6 million worth of onions were apprehended in a vessel.
The port said intercepted 5,611 bags of imported red onions with an estimated market value of P8.5 million and 2,249 bags of imported white onions valued at P10.1 million during a maritime patrol operation.
Porous south
The onions are loaded in a vessel marked MV Princess Nurdisza, which allegedly came from Taganak, Tawi-Tawi province, and bound for Barangay Baliwasan.
It added that the crew failed to provide a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance from the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Plant Industry for the goods, thus violating Section 1401 of Republic Act 10863, known as the “Customs Modernization and Tariff Act of 2016”, concerning Republic Act 10845 or the “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.”