MANILA TIMES: LET'S GET THINGS RIGHT AT THE CUSTOMS
MANILA, AUGUST 30, 2011 (MANILA TIMES) Written by : RICARDO SALUDO - LET'S go back to 2009 and imagine if then President Gloria Arroyo kept silent about 2,000 containers disappearing in transit between Manila and Batangas ports, cheating gamblers getting away with P400 million in Pagcor winnings, jueteng running rampant despite a year-old promise to crack down and a close associate accused by name of receiving jueteng payoffs.
Add to the mix the doubling of the Palace intelligence fund to P600 million and Malacañang's looming appointment of OICs to run the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Plus bloating the Conditional Cash Transfer fund to nearly P40 billion, up P17 billion from this year.
And don't forget the mooted deal for joint oil exploration in disputed waters with China—the very thing labeled as treason by some media years ago—as part of a deal for more than $5 billion in Chinese investment.
With all that, one would never hear the end of accusations that the Arroyo Administration was raising a war chest, including doleouts to the poor and China kickbacks, and priming the ARMM for the 2010 elections.
Today, those very things are happening with a different president, and we have silence all around, except for senators and commentators railing against the sale of two used helicopters to the Philippine National Police, allegedly by former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
What a difference a couple of years make.
We won't get in the way of whatever plans the Aquino Administration has for those big-money goings-on. If bigger-name columnists in higher-circulation papers aren't saying anything, the Palace isn't going to listen to this writer.
Still, in the interest of saving lives, we have to speak up against one thing: the wanton diversion of shipping containers by the thousands.
Forget the lost revenues. This has to stop because the 2,000 lost 40-footers—the worst act of smuggling in Philippine history—could be carrying explosives, firearms, drugs, or disease-infested meat. Not to mention thousands more said to have also been spirited away on the road to ports other than Batangas.
If gunrunners, drug lords, and food smugglers are among the perpetrators of the mega-smuggling scheme, then the damage from the scam and the Customs corruption that allowed it, escalates from a larger budget deficit to a bigger body count from violence, sickness, or overdose.
Plainly, to save lives we have to stop the syndicates and their cohorts in Customs. Thankfully, we've done that before, and the Aquino Administration has in its camp the man who did it back in the 1990s: Guillermo Parayno.
Last year this writer supported the former Customs commissioner to go back to his old job in the Ramos government (see July 7, 2010 column). After all, Parayno was widely applauded for his reforms and computerization at Customs, and was even hired by international development agencies as a consultant on customs reform, advising other countries.
Still, we gave PNoy's choice, incumbent Commissioner Angelito Alvarez, a chance to show his mettle. Now, a year later, all we can say is: we told you so.
It's time to set things right in customs, to save lives, boost revenues, protect local jobs and industries, facilitate trade and investment, and fight corruption, violence, drugs, and disease.
If political debts need to be paid and election funds amassed, do it with jueteng, casinos, intelligence funds, doleouts, and other scheme. But spare the country's gateway ports, and name a chief gatekeeper who will keep the killer cargo out.
Can Parayno do it? Here's what some top names in global ports and cargo handling have said of his 1992-98 stint:
Douglas Tweedle, Director, Customs Technique of the World Customs Organization, visiting in 1997: "When I visited the ports and the airports and the container depot, I was impressed that the environment was also being improved. It's not just being a computer project. New buildings have been refurbished. There is good working environment. The staff are happy to work inside them. Within the Customs area, there's calm efficiency and professionalism."
Bernadette Curry of the U.S. Customs Service: "While on the airplane coming here, I was imagining what customs was like in the Philippines. Frankly, just a basic accounting system for customs duties and excise. So I'm really quite surprised and quite impressed from what I've seen. The system was much more robust than I expected."
Peter Fohler of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD): "Among the developing countries, you rank number one in computerization, and none of these countries even come close to what you have accomplished in two years time."
Local business leaders echoed the praise. The President of the Customs Checkers and Representatives Organization said: "There used to be 52 signatures to release a shipment. Now we can release a shipment with the signatures of only 3 or 4 Customs officers. This is one thing we could say is a miracle."
One can go on and on. But really, President Aquino knows what Parayno can do, having considered and interviewed him for the Customs post last year. He should now give his second choice a chance—and bring Tuwid na Daan to the Bureau of Customs.
Ricardo Saludo heads the Center for Strategy, Enterprise & Intelligence ( ric.saludo@censeisolutions.com)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ), which publishes The CenSEI Report. For copies of the full study, please email report@censeisolutions.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
----------------------------------------------------------
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------
