BOC starts strict monitoring of large Metro Manila cold storage facilities

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC), has started a strict monitoring of all large cold storage facilities in Metro Manila, its top official said yesterday.

Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez said the move is part of efforts to monitor the illegal entry of perishable agricultural products in the country.

Earlier Alvarez ordered the seizure of 4,000 bags of imported red onions worth P3.5 million.

He said the onions were seized by the agency’s intelligence operatives outside Customs zones in a series of operations that started two weeks ago.

The first apprehension took place last July 6 outside a warehouse facility in Navotas after a week long surveillance work conducted by agents from the BOC.

Another seizure took place last July 16, Alvarez noted.

He said warehouse employees could not present documents that would prove that the goods were legally imported.

He said that the twin seizures were the first accomplishments of the newly created group within the BOC which is the Oplan Sagip-Agri.

Alvarez said the Oplan Sagip-Agri project is the brainchild of Customs Intelligence and Investigation (CIIS) director Filomeno Vicencio Jr. and Intelligence Division chief Jose N. Yuchongco.

“The project was meant to ensure that imported products that cleared customs under anomalous circumstances were recovered and the guilty parties are penalized,” Alvarez said.

Furthermore, Alvarez said that the agency deployed four teams of intelligence agents in various locations in Metro Manila to monitor imported agricultural products that were able to get past Customs without proper documentation and proof of payment of correct duties and taxes.

Alvarez also said he had ordered the investigation of people involved in the smuggling of the confiscated onions, including customs employees in cahoots with the tax dodgers.