Wanted: Real reforms in gov’t agencies!

With the news that some P1.2 billion rice shipment in Cebu was seized by the Bureau of Customs in what pundits said was a foiled attempt to smuggle rice through the Port of Cebu, it only proves what we’ve been saying all along that even under the supposed watchful eyes of Daang Matuwid, smuggling is still rampant in the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and perhaps more importantly that the Communications Team in Malacañang who boasted that the Philippines will be a rice exporter by this year was nothing but mere propaganda. I go by that simple logic that if there’s plenty of rice supply here at home, no one would be stupid to smuggle rice to our country.

Because of the rampant smuggling (mind you, it’s not just rice that the smugglers are bringing into the country) in the BOC, no less than Customs Commissioner Rozzano Ruffy Biazon revealed to the press that there was an initial discussion with President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III for a top down cleansing of the BOC — even its abolition and privatization. Of course, the next day this idea was no longer given any serious thought, as it was merely a “suggestion.” Come on, was this, perhaps, Biazon’s way of getting those attack dogs to stop barking for his resignation?

But if P-Noy wants to clean up his act, he must seriously consider whatever options are on the table, yes including the abolition of the entire Bureau of Customs and perhaps replacing it with a privatized one. Surely there are many other ways to fix the BOC that we’ve never tried before, or look at what the other nations are doing and copy them. Something like this doesn’t need brilliant ideas, just guts to get out and do it!

If you think that only the Bureau of Customs needs fixing, let’s look at what’s going on in the Commission on Audit (CoA), the government agency supposedly tasked to stop corruption in its tracks by instituting measures to prevent corruption. But in the end even small minute items get mired in its bureaucratic maze, the result instead is the opposite, it worsened corruption. When I chaired the Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management (CITOM), whenever I needed a simple paper or pen, more often than not, it was difficult to get right away because these were bidded out by Cebu City.

The best thing to do with these small items is simply get a commitment from nationwide stores like National Bookstore that they won’t increase their prices for paper or office stuff in the next six months, plus a 10% discount… then COA should allow the local governments to purchase these items without any bidding. But because the procurement process has not been changed, national and local government purchase these office items in bulk and in the end the government ends up paying for more for these items than the retail prices of the stores. So what should we do with COA? Streamline their processes, reduce their bureaucracy or abolish it?

If at all there is a government agency that needs a total revamp or systems overhaul it is the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Again let me reiterate that way back in the May 2010 elections when we saw the first use of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS), we were one of the first journalists asking questions to the Comelec and Smartmatic why there were so many discrepancies in the electronic voting? All our queries fell on deaf ears of Comelec officials.

When AES Watch finally gathered all the information about what happened in the 2010 elections, it was only then that other journalists took note and asked their own questions about the reliability of the PCOS machines. Yet under Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes, instead of renting the PCOS machines, he bought it for billions of pesos from Smartmatic and the Supreme Court went along with him despite the reality that it still has no source code to go with that purchase. Today Comelec has closed its eyes and ears to the revelation in Compostela, Cebu where reelectionist Mayor Ritchie Wagas has proven that he should have won the mayorship of Compostela. But Comelec officials just won’t give any statement to that issue.

My suggestion is to break the Comelec into pieces and fire everyone. Then the new Comelec will be a Regional Comelec only chosen by the Regional Development Councils who will only call the Comelec one year before elections and a month after the elections, Comelec should be disbanded. But will P-Noy go along with this “reform” movement? I doubt it.

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Just a reminder that tomorrow is the book launching of Latvian Honorary Consul Sir Robert “Bobby” Joseph’s book entitled “Guide to Global VIPs” which he compiled and edited and will be launching at 6 p.m. in the New World Hotel. This book teaches the reader important lessons to bring out the best in a person, getting to know foreign places and their protocols and dos and don’ts in etiquette, including even table settings. Kudos Sir Bobby Joseph!

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