Going after smugglers

It's good to see the presidential anti-smuggling task force doing its job. In recent days the Task Force Aduana has confiscated Starex vans and motorcycles allegedly smuggled into the country. The task force's zeal in going after smugglers, however, has raised some questions. One is whether all the confiscated items are really contraband. Another is whether the methods used by the task force are legal.

Critics say that several of the confiscated Starex vans' shipment papers were still being processed when the vehicles were seized. Defenders of the task force, on the other hand, argue that "processing" in this country can go on indefinitely and can be a convenient excuse if ever a smuggled vehicle is intercepted.

Last weekend, task force members seized hundreds of motorcycles, scooters and mountain bikes together with 18 television sets and 33 air-conditioning units from houses in the coastal village of Poro Pingit in Magsingal, Ilocos Sur. Yesterday, government prosecutors filed charges of smuggling against two business-men and four barangay officials of the province. The charges were filed amid complaints from local officials of Ilocos Sur, who denounced the air and ground assault launched by the task force to confiscate the goods. Task force officials, on the other hand, said the village was being used as an entry point for goods smuggled from Japan, Taiwan and China. The officials said this was made possible through the collusion of certain public servants.

Smuggling can be tough to prove in court in this country, especially if there are officials willing to testify that the shipment papers of the goods in question are still being processed. In an archipelago with an extensive coastline and few people to patrol the waters, it is also fairly easy to smuggle goods through coastal areas. The Task Force Aduana should be encouraged to continue doing its job.

On the other hand, taking short cuts in going after smugglers and confiscating suspected contraband can mean legal infirmities that will lead to the dismissal of smuggling cases. To make these cases stand in court, legal procedures on arrests, searches and seizures of goods must be strictly followed. Surely the last thing the Task Force Aduana wants is to see suspected smugglers freed and getting back seized contraband due to a legal technicality.