EDITORIAL - No sacred cows

It’s good to hear the heads of the two top revenue-generating agencies promising that there will be no sacred cows in the campaigns against tax evasion and smuggling. We’ve heard the same promise before, however, straight from the mouths of presidents. And yet there are still too many relatives and friends of those in po-wer as well as people with the right connections who get away with violating the law.

The Office of the Ombudsman at least continues to do its job, suspending the chief of the Customs special police for unexplained wealth. It will be even better if unexplained wealth can be traced to the smugglers who have made even clerks at the Bureau of Customs rich. But this may be asking too much.

For now the new heads of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue can focus on measures that will reduce red tape and opportunities for graft in the two agencies. There is a new law that rewards revenue collectors for better performance, and there is new technology and systems that can improve the processing of shipments through Customs ports as well as the payment of taxes to the BIR.

Even the best technology, how-ever, cannot detect smuggling when hot goods are simply waved through a port by corrupt Customs officers, or when local government officials allow poorly patrolled coastal areas in their jurisdiction to be used as drop-off points for all sorts of contraband including vegetables, motorcycles and drugs. Individuals suspected to be the most notorious smugglers in this country have never been arrested or indicted, and their businesses that give competitors an unfair advantage have thrived no matter who is in po-wer.

A similar problem plagues tax collection. People with the largest tax obligations usually also have the most influential officials in their pockets, or else can afford the best accountants to help them go around revenue rules. The most earnest effort to go after tax cheats can only fail when the biggest tax evaders can appeal to those in power for help in reducing their tax liabilities.

Of course there should be no sacred cows in any sincere effort to go after smugglers and tax evaders. Turning this into reality, however, will require strong political will that has long been lacking in this country.