Ni Betheena Kae Unite
Patuloy na umiiral ang katiwalian sa Bureau of Customs (BoC) ngunit hindi na kasing-lala tulad noon, ito ang inamin ni Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña kasunod ng mga pahayag mula sa US Trade Representative na hindi pa rin nawawala ang katiwalian sa kagawaran.
“I would say that the corruption is still there but not as serious as before,” sinabi ni Lapeña nitong Huwbes nang hingan ng reaksiyon sa ulat ng US Trade Representative (USTR) na nagsasabing nanatiling “pervasive” issue ang katiwalian sa Pilipinas.
“National and local government agencies, particularly Bureau of Customs, are beset with various corruption issues,” sinabi ng USTR sa 2018 National Trade Estimate Report of Foreign Trade Barriers nito.
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“Reports of corruption and irregularities in customs processing persist, including undue and costly delays, irregularities in the valuation process, 100-percent inspection and testing of some products, and customs officials seeking the payment of unrecorded facilitation fees,” idinagdag ng US agency.
Gayunman, naniniwala si Lapeña, na nabawasan na ang kurapsiyon tulad ng “tara” o grease money, benchmarking, at iba pa sa kagawaran at makikita ito sa pagtaas ng revenue collection ng bureau.
“We have now a better collection, we are hitting the revenue collection that is all-time high in the history of the BOC. Corruption and revenue is directly related,” ani Lapeña.
Binanggit niya na ang malaking discrepancy sa data exports mula sa China ay nakaapekto rin sa collection ng kagawaran sa nakalipas.
“Revenue is proportionate to that and it is because of the corruption. That’s why I’m saying that somehow, the corruption has been reduced but is still there. I’m saying na meron pa rin kasi meron naman talaga but not as serious as it was before. I would say that corruption has been addressed, although not totally, but significantly,” wika niya.
Sinabi pa ng Customs chief na hindi maaabot ng kagawaran ang target nito sa unang tatlong buwan ng taon kung malala pa rin ang katiwalian sa BoC.
“Kung nandiyan pa yang corruption na ‘yan, do you think we will hit our target? No,” diin niya.
