Morales denies Customs 'insincere' in fighting corruption

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales denied yesterday that his agency is “insincere in fighting corruption.”

Reacting to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on corruption, Morales said if the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has not been sincere in its efforts to fight corruption, it would not have accumulated an excess of P8.5 billion in collections.

The recent SWS survey showed that managers of 402 enterprises rated the BOC with a -72 rating in its fight against corruption.

The two other government offices labeled as “very bad” were the Bureau of Internal Revenue, with -56 rating, and the Department of Public Works and Highways, with -63.

Morales complained that the survey was biased against them.

He stressed that his agency has been undertaking several measures to improve its coordination with the private sector and its public image.

He said the BOC has been holding regular meetings with leaders of industries to discuss ways the bureau could improve its system.

“How can they say that we are not sincere when in fact we have exceeded our collection target by P8.5 billion from January to October?” Morales said.

If Customs officials and employees were receiving “under the table money” for transactions, the agency would not have collected excess money, he pointed out.

He said the BOC continues to be on guard against smugglers.

Under its Run After The Smugglers (RATS) program, it has filed 108 cases against unscrupulous persons. “We at the BOC are doing all we can to fight corruption, he added. “We cannot stop corruption overnight.”

During the first quarter of 2009, Morales revealed a plan to institute paperless transactions to minimize, if not eliminate, corruption in the bureau.

He added that they are also about to implement a Customs administrative order wherein the BOC would no longer accept checks or cash, only bank payments.

“But this is still subject to approval by the Finance secretary,” he said.

Meanwhile, DPWH Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. said that the opinion of business managers might have been influenced by the negative perception of the public.

Ebdane said “the problem with the survey is that it is a matter of perception…But on our part, we are doing everything we can.” – Evelyn Macairan