Solon wants probe on delay in GPS-cargo monitoring scheme

MANILA, Philippines - A legislator has called on the House of Representatives to conduct an inquiry into the delay or non-implementation of the GPS-Enable Cargo Monitoring System of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) to prevent smuggling and hijacking.

"We want to verify reports that some corrupt elements in the customs bureau are intentionally delaying the project to protect their client-smugglers and racketeers," Leyte Rep. Lucy Marie Torres Gomez said.

Gomez filed Resolution No. 701 which calls on the Lower House to probe into allegations of delay in the implementation of the system and to streamline the systems and procedures in the BoC, the second largest revenue-generating arm of the government next to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

She cited that in 2011, nearly 2,000 container vans went missing as these were being transported from the Port of Manila and the Manila International Container Port to the Port of Batangas, resulting in an estimated P3-billion government losses in terms of duties and taxes.

Gomez said that some news reports indicate that it is the Department of Finance which is causing the delay in the implementation through its directive to the BoC on the bidding process.

The directive for the submission of a service level agreement allowing several service providers to participate so that firms, such as SGS, would not be able to monopolize or corner the project.

Gomez added that, to address the situation, it was proposed that the BoC should implement a GPS tracking system on container vans, especially those coming from international ports.

She noted that an "Enhanced Customs Transit System," partly funded from the European Union Trade Related Technical Assistance program, was put in the pipeline in 2012 with the submission of a service level agreement to the DOF for approval.

HR 701 also states that the BoC, in line with the ECTS, initially tapped the SGS to provide the GPS-equipped seal for a fee ranging from P750 to P2,000.

"Despite the laudable objectives of the project to prevent smuggling and hijacking which result to billions of pesos in losses to the government, the ECTS, which was supposed to be rolled-out by the end of 2013, has been snagged by bureaucratic or political delays," Gomez said.