Military, Coast Guard to augment BOC capabilities

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 21): Military, Coast Guard to augment BOC capabilities

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will only augment the capabilities of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) but operations will still be handled by Customs personnel, BOC spokesperson Erastus Sandino Austria said.

In an interview with Philippine News Agency's (PNA) program Pros and Cons, Austria said the AFP will help in the BOC's modernization program while the PCG will assist the BOC in the enforcement of tariffs and Customs laws.

"Napaka-unique actually ng function, ng trabaho ng Bureau of Customs (The function of BOC is actually unique) and this was observed by our international counterparts as well as by the World Bank themselves... Kailangan mong balansehin on the one hand ang trade facilitation, on the other hand naman ang iyong border security functions dahil ikaw rin ang tagapagbantay ng lahat ng ports of entry mo (You need to balance trade facilitation on the one hand, and on the other hand is border security because it also serves as guards on all ports of entry)," Austria said.

Austria added that the level of compliance of stakeholders is steadily growing and cited the need for a "slow and steady methodical reform agenda".

"Corruption, it happens because the environment allows it to happen and allows it to thrive. So for as long as meron tayong kasamahan sa gobyerno sa Bureau of Customs that will allow it na kahit non-compliant si stakeholder at si stakeholder naman din ay mababa ang level of compliance, then magpapatuloy yung ganun na sistema (we have colleagues in the government, in the BOC that will allow it, even if a stakeholder is non-compliant and/or stakeholder has low level of compliance, then that system will continue)," Austria said.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte earlier placed the entire BOC personnel in floating status amid the PHP6.8 billion worth of shabu that slipped past the Customs and ordered the military to temporarily replace the Customs personnel.

To date, around 600 AFP and PCG personnel have been detailed to the BOC.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1057069