Customs head hails SC rule on rewards

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales expressed satisfaction on Monday over the decision of the Supreme Court, (SC) saying that legalizing the distribution of rewards and incentives would inspire the officials and employees of the bureau to work harder.

Morales said the High Court’s ruling would “inspire everyone at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to work harder. Who would not be inspired, they would be getting additional compensation.”

It was reported that the SC affirmed the constitutionality of Republic Act 9335, or the Attrition Act of 2005, which provides a system of rewards and incentives for the officials and employees of the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

This development also strengthened their claim that the Lateral Attrition Law (LAL) was legal.

The Bocea reportedly questioned the rewards given to the BoC officials and employees after the agency claimed that it had surpassed its target in 2006 when it collected P198.2 billion, which was P2.2 billion in excess of its P196 billion target.

However, despite the affirmation of the SC on the distribution of rewards and incentives, there are still those who believe that “advance collections” were made to make it appear that they reached their assigned target. One of those who opposes the Lateral Attrition Law is Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile.

But Morales denied allegations that front loading or advance collections were done. “This is based on the Presidential Decree 1815 and Central Bank Circular 909 that before an import product can be released they would have to pay the duties in full.”

He said he could not stop Enrile from conducting an investigation but maintained that, “everything is legal.”

He explained that it is the review performance and evaluation board (RPEV), comprised of representatives from the Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Budget and Management (DBM), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the BoC. It was the RPEV that allocated the P500 million rewards to the BOC.

He said that the BOC has been meeting its target collections for the past three years. Last month, bureau records showed that it was commissioned to only collect P22.991 billion in import duties and taxes, but the actual collection reflected P25.570 billion, or a surplus of P2.579 million.