The Philippine Star
Posted at 08/24/2015 9:24 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Any tax on balikbayan boxes would require congressional approval, a lawmaker reminded Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina yesterday.
“All appropriation, revenue or tariff bills shall originate exclusively in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments,†Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said, quoting the Constitution.
“In the first place, balikbayan boxes are duty- and tax-free packages designed for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sending home gifts to their families,†he added.
Castelo said that contrary to Lina’s claims that smugglers are making use of balikbayan boxes, most such boxes contain “household items and goods that are generally exempt from duties. This small favor is negligible compared to the great sacrifices and contributions that our OFWs make that also benefit our national economy.â€
Lina is targeting the wrong sector to improve his collection performance, Castelo said.
“He should zero in on big-time smugglers and corrupt examiners who under-assess highly dutiable goods, undervalued shipments and the like, and not focus on lowly OFWs and ordinary Filipino employees in foreign lands trying to send goods to their loved ones in these most trying times,†he said.
Castelo said the BOC should first answer questions on the shipping containers of Canadian waste sent to the Philippines, which “caused us serious international humiliation.â€
Goodie boxes won’t increase tax take
Lina should not target OFWs’ goodie boxes if he is aiming to increase his tax collections, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano lll, for his part, said.
“Those small boxes will not contain much in terms of dutiable goods. Customs could examine them through its x-ray machines for contraband like guns, but not for send-home goods that could yield higher tariff,†he said.
Lina should run after importers undervaluing their shipments, Albano said.
A firm, for example, has imported 14 luxury cars through the Batangas port, he added. They were valued at P24 million, but Customs officers placed them at least 24 percent more, Albano said.
Smugglers rob the government of taxes, “not our overseas workers and compatriots who just want to send food and household items to their loved ones here,†he added.
Move aimed at smugglers
The planned random inspections of balikbayan boxes are aimed at smugglers, not OFWs, the BOC said.
“We are not after the OFWs or their pasalubong to families,†read the statement.
“We are after the smugglers who have resorted to using the balikbayan boxes and consolidated shipments to smuggle contraband in the country through fake consignees or insertion of smuggled boxes or goods, otherwise known as riders, in consolidated shipments.â€
The inspection of balikbayan boxes is actually part of existing rules, the BOC said.
The measure is needed to deal with abuses in the rules on consolidated shipments, the BOC said.
“The bureau has paid greatly in revenue losses through these smuggling activities, and more importantly, the affected industries,†read the statement.
The BOC said it is not “technologically equipped to inspect all incoming boxes as efficiently as we want.â€
As for taxes on balikbayan boxes, the BOC said it has not made any statement on the matter.
Palace to listen to OFW concerns
On the other hand, the OFWs’ concern about the plan to inspect balikbayan boxes and impose higher taxes on them will definitely reach President Aquino, deputy presidential spokesman Abigail Valte said yesterday.
“I personally guarantee that it will reach President Aquino,†she said in Filipino over state-run dzRB radio. “We understand their feelings. The Customs must be informed about the effect of their regulations.â€
Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., meanwhile, said the BOC plan is a form of harassment of OFWs and the agency must justify it before the Senate committee on finance during deliberations on its proposed budget for 2016.
“Let them defend themselves during the budget deliberations,†he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the BOC must intensify the use of x-ray machines for container vans, cargos and balikbayan boxes to detect contraband goods.
It must go after big time smugglers, not OFWs, he added.
Despite a huge part of the its budget allocated to intelligence, the BOC has failed to stop smuggling, Recto said.
Of the BOC’s P3.05-billion budget for 2015, P26.2 million has been classified for “confidential†and “extraordinary†expenses, he noted, as he objected to the BOC’s plan to manually inspect balikbayan boxes.
The government is spending P298 million for the upkeep of each of the 30 big x-ray machines loaned from China, he added. These were installed in 10 of the country’s biggest ports, Recto said.
“There are ways to catch the rat without burning the entire house down,†he said.
The BOC must clarify the directive for the opening of balikbayan boxes, Sen. Cynthia Villar said.
“I understand the frustration of our kababayan abroad who lovingly prepared the box; many of them took a while before filling the box, only to be received by loved ones already open and tampered with,†she said.
The BOC must protect the balikbayan boxes from being pilfered, Villar said.
Some 400,000 balikbayan boxes reach the country every month, and far more during Christmas season.
OFWs sent over P2 trillion to the country last year, Recto said. – Jess Diaz, Edu Punay, Delon Porcalla, Christina Mendez
