Daily Tribune (Philippines) - HotSpot
Iron-willed chief makes change inevitable
Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz’s gentle, soft-spoken demeanor belies a spine of steel: The man is tough as nails when it comes to smugglers, criminals, and economic saboteurs. “To the smugglers and would-be smugglers, stop doing what you do. If you are planning to smuggle, stop it because we will track you down and we are good at doing that,” he warned in an episode of Daily Tribune’s Straight Talk. Traders have to do their business legally, he said, “because the funds you will pay the Bureau of Customs will go to the government and that will help provide better services to Filipinos.”
Ruiz knows whereof he speaks, since he used to head the BoC’s Enforcement and Security Services in 2017. As ESS chief, he was in charge of the Customs police.
He also served as regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in Central Visayas.
It was Ruiz’s former PDEA boss, Isidro Lapena, that brought him to the BoC.
Now as BoC head, he takes the lead in assessing and collecting customs revenues, curbing illicit trade and all forms of customs fraud, and facilitating trade through an efficient management system.
Making the BoC efficient within three years was a marching order he received from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Once full digitalization is in place, the Customs operations will remove human contact, thus reducing interactions among brokers, importers, and Customs employees that have traditionally been the source of corrupt practices. The removal of discretion in Customs personnel will also eliminate the need for paperwork.
“Issuing certifications will have one portal through the National Single Window, where everything will be streamlined. All processes will be faster once we are 100-percent digitalized,” Ruiz said.
The Customs chief cited his predecessor Rey Leonardo
Guerrero for initiating several systems that paved the way for the ongoing digitalization of the bureau.
Modernizing the system will immensely benefit the government and the economy, stressed Ruiz. “Once the operations are streamlined, there will be faster importation, a more efficient system, and we all know that an efficient system will generate more revenues,” he explained.
The goal of Ruiz is to digitalize bureau records to centralize all data for ease of check and balance.
Likewise, going digital will help the BoC track employees and personnel who are in cahoots with smugglers.
Full BoC automation may have to wait until 2024, however, since some Customs processes involve a third-party provider that has been caught in legal proceedings.
“Pending the resolution of that case, our hands are tied,” Ruiz said.
Still, as of end-2022, 155 out of 170 Customs processes have been automated.
The World Bank provided support to the BoC through $88.28 million in financing for its Philippine Customs Modernization Program. World Bank representatives led by Alexandre Hugo Laure recently toured local ports to observe various projects under the program.
Seven BoC pillars
Ruiz said the thrust under his term is embodied in seven principles: Zero tolerance for drug smugglers, curbing gun smuggling, eliminating illegal agricultural shipments, increasing revenue, digitalizing all BoC processes, boosting employee morale, and eradicating corruption.
As a former key PDEA official, he places particular emphasis on frustrating drug syndicates in slipping in illegal narcotics.
“We have been combating organized crime and narcotics smuggling for so many years now, and I am confident that we are making strides as we sustain improved border protection performance,” Ruiz said.
Some 34 personalities have been arrested and turned over to the PDEA through BoC’s efforts.
Digitalization and active collaboration with the PDEA and other local and foreign law enforcement agencies involved in the implementation and enforcement of anti-drug laws are playing a big part in the Bureau’s achievements against drug smuggling. Investing in additional new machines to detect contraband cleverly camouflaged and buried under legitimate imports, as well as conducting more coordinated intelligence-sharing arrangements between the BoC, drug enforcement agencies, local police, and their counterparts overseas, is boosting government efforts to combat the threat.