Taxpayers will be forking out P6.2 billion for the next two years so two foreign firms can curb technical smuggling at the Bureau of Customs. It will be a return for the Swiss firm Societe Generale de Surveillance or SGS, whose pre-shipment inspection services were terminated by the Estrada administration in 2000. The other company is US-based Dun & Bradstreet.
Tapping the services of the two firms was the idea of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group and the Federation of Philippine Industries. The PASG had to be created to stop rampant smuggling in key ports, particularly in Manila and Subic. The P6.2 billion for the two foreign companies is therefore on top of the funding for the operations of the PASG. Officials of the PASG and the FPI pointed out that there would be no need for the services of the two foreign companies if the Bureau of Customs had been doing its job well. But smuggling remains rampant, posing unfair competition to legitimate businessmen, who have been urging the government to take the necessary action.
How far foreign companies can go in curbing technical smuggling will depend on the level of support they will get from the national leadership. The Bureau of Customs is consistently rated in business surveys as one of the most corrupt government agencies, vying for the top post with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Public Works and Highways.
But Customs personnel are not the only ones to blame. Though there are Customs personnel who have been accused of direct involvement in smuggling operations, the biggest smugglers in this country manage to operate because they enjoy the protection of powerful people to whom Customs officials cannot say no. Legitimate businessmen have long denounced the smuggling of luxury vehicles and even fuel through the Subic free port. These days there are complaints about rice and flour smuggling amid soaring prices of the two commodities.
Can two foreign companies make a difference? It will depend on political will. If ever smugglers and their coddlers are caught, they should be made to reimburse taxpayers that P6.2 billion.