HOUSE Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said that past legal issues with a Bureau of Customs contract on its computerization program should not hamper the bureau from carrying out its mandate in an efficient and digitalized manner.
Following his committee’s recent hearing on customs undervaluation and smuggling, Salceda recommended an automatic alert system that will record and make notice of shipments that are “grossly undervalued compared to a benchmark price for the same commodity.”
The lawmaker said the government should revisit the BOC’s computerization programs to prevent smuggling and undervaluation.
“What can we do with current systems so we can collect more duties and taxes from imports? Otherwise, our tariffs lose their ability to protect domestic industries,” he said.
Customs officials responded that they are constrained from enhancing their computerization program to effect Salceda’s recommendation because of a 2015 injunction by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47. The ruling stopped the BOC from aborting the awarding of the contract to Omniprime Marketing Inc. and Intrasoft International Inc. for the Philippine National Single Window 2 (PNSW2) project.
The Supreme Court subsequently issued a TRO on the injunction, which has placed the PNSW2 project in what Salceda calls “procurement limbo.”
Salceda said that “a mere issue of procurement with one contract should not prevent the Bureau of Customs from modernizing its valuation safeguards.”
He said he will seek the opinion of the Department of Justice “on whether the injunction prevents them from starting anew with a different project to prevent customs undervaluation.”
In particular, Salceda said he wants to know whether the BOC can just procure for the system from scratch and not have to depend on the resolution of the PNSW2 case.
“That question should be answered, and I think the BOC has been studying that option. We should resolve that matter in time for the budget discussions for 2024,” he said.
“The Constitution and jurisprudence uphold the police power of the State—that is, its ability to enforce the law to protect public welfare. And taxes are the lifeblood of the government. We shouldn’t prevent this mess from enforcing the law more effectively,” he added.