Lapeña confident of meeting targets, stopping corruption
Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña admitted yesterday that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has been “really left behind” by its foreign counterparts, but is resolved to stop corruption in the agency and confident of meeting its target collection this year.
Speaking at yesterday’s “Manila Bulletin Hot Seat,” Lapeña said mechanisms have been put in place, as ordered by President Duterte, to solve the slow process in doing business in the BOC because it was what bred corruption in the past.
He expressed confidence that the government’s second largest tax agency will exceed its collection target this year on the back of renewed confidence in reducing corruption in the system.
Lapeña said that his agency is on track to surpassing its 1581.3-billion target this year, adding they have already raised 48.25 percent of their full-year goal in the first semester alone.
In fact, the Customs bureau was ahead of its target in January to June this year by 0.9 percent and that 16 of the 17 ports have met their collection targets.
“The bureau’s initial total accrued revenue from January to June 2018 has already reached 1279.67 billion, exceeding the 1278.12 billion target by 0.9 percent to a revenue surplus of 12.39 billion in mid-2018,” Lapeña said.
The Customs chief attributed the above-target performance on corruption eradication efforts of the Duterte administration, citing the government estimated that about 50 percent of potential revenues have been lost to undervaluation.
“My basis why I'm saying I'm confident is that we can recover the revenue loss because of corruption, you add that 50 percent to the revenue we’re collecting, easily we can collect more than our target,” Lapeña explained.
The official also said that the bureau expects stronger revenue take in the second-half of the year as imports are expected to rise ahead of the holiday season in the fourth-quarter.
Lapeña added that the stronger US dollar as well as higher cost of petroleum products in the world market are boosting Customs bureau’s collections, but gave no other details about the revenue impact of these factors on their performance.
But, the Customs chief also admitted that a lot more work needs to be done in order to catch up with its foreign counterparts.
He said that during his visits in some countries in Asia, he saw the big difference between the ports in those countries and the Philippines.
“Kota Kinabalu is in Saba and when I saw the Customs facilities in Kota Kinabalu, malayo tayo (we are far from it). And that is just Kota Kinabalu, you will not see a lot of people there because even the transaction of the importations are done through computers already,” Lapena said.
“So, that’s the state of the Philippine Customs and where we are. Just comparing it to Kota Kinabalu,” he added.
He said the BOC has already asked the World Bank to help modernize its operations. “We need to fully automate, which means less human intervention to improve the processes that will help achieve the goals (of the agency),” he said.
The commissioner said if improvements have been done before, the bureau would no longer have to trail behind its counterparts nowadays. As a result, he furthered, the bureau has to do a lot of works now in a small period of time in a bid to be at par with Asian counterparts.
“That’s why, when I was there, there are offers from the World Customs Organization as well as the representative of the ADB (Asian Development Bank). They said that they are going to finance the conduct of time release study (TRS) – it is about the process time in the ports,” Lapena said.
A few weeks from now, a time release study that will look into the port operation process to determine where delays occur prior to releasing the shipments will be conducted in Port of Manila and other main ports will follow.
“We will know the state of our Customs, in as far as the operation, processing of Customs activities is concerned (through this study). We just have to do things a lot more. Marami pa tayong gagawin (we have a lot of thing to do),” Lapena said.
“Things that should have been done years ago is now being done in a short period of time. I’m trying to compress it, make it fast because we are really left behind,” he stressed.
As for the next steps toward modernization, Lapeña said the bureau aims to establish an authorized economic operator intended to further facilitate trade where stakeholders, depending on their level of compliance with the bureau, will be given exemption from certain policies.
The bureau will also roll out its enhanced goods declaration verification system (EGDVS), a web-based application for the assessments of imports that addresses red tape, smuggling, and corruption in the bureau.
Likewise, the BOC has also implemented a transparent awarding of tax refunds. For this year, the bureau has issued 11.35 billion worth of Tax Credit Certificates; 11.31 million worth of cash refunds; and 1192.5 million worth of cash conversions.
Soon, the Customs will open its auction of seized goods to all public bidders without a need for accreditation.
Asked if the BOC should be abolished on the premise that it is a propensity for corruption, Lapeña answered: “I am seeing progress. It can be reformed and transformed. There are more people who wanted a change in the system and I can see that.”
He also imparted his work ethic to government employees: “Doing things right, even if no one is looking – that is the mark of my integrity.”