After criticizing Customs in SONA, PNoy tells Biazon he can stay on as bureau chief

MANILA - Despite scatching criticism of the Bureau of Customs, President Benigno Aquino III is keeping the agency's chief and fellow Liberal Party-mate, Rufino Biazon, for now.

On his Twitter account, Biazon announced that he had offered to resign as Customs head within minutes after the President ended his fourth State-of-the-Nation-Address (SONA).

"In light of the president's statement regarding [Customs], I immediately offered my resignation within minutes after the end of the speech," Biazon said.

But in a subsequent Tweet, the Customs chief quoted the President as saying, ""RUFFY we both know the difficulties in the agency you are trying to reform. My confidence in you remains the same."

In his SONA, the President criticized Customs "whose personnel are trying to outdo each other's incompetence."

"Instead of collecting the proper taxes and preventing contraband from entering the country, they are heedlessly permitting the smuggling of goods, and even drugs, arms, and other items of a similar nature into our territory," the President said, citing Department of Finance's estimate of P200 billion in foregone revenues because of smuggling.

"Where do these people get the gall? One can almost hear these public officials say, 'I don’t care if the weapons go to criminal elements; I don’t care how many lives are ruined by drugs; I don’t care if our fields remain barren forever; What matters is that I am rich; it’s every man for himself.' Such practices have no place in government. If you cannot do your job, you do not deserve to remain in office," the President said.

Customs was one of three agencies singled out for corruption, the other two being the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and the National Irrigation Administration (NI).

"If you are a good, conscientious employee of the BI, NIA, Customs, or any other government agency, I hope that you do even more. It is not enough to lie low and hide inside your cubicle; to prevent wrongdoing is part of your duty. You are in the right, so there is no need to hide; please make it easy for me to find people like you; I will raise you up as praiseworthy examples, that we may fully transform the flawed culture of your agencies," the President said.

source: interaksyon.com

Customs audits PGA Cars for possible undervaluation of imported luxury vehicles

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is conducting a post-entry audit on the units imported by luxury vehicles distributor PGA Cars Inc in the last six years, Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino B. Biazon on Wednesday said, citing possible undervaluation.

“We observed some declarations na you feel na subject to question. [Customs] mismo ang may nakitang basis for the audit,” Biazon told reporters.

One basis was a discrepancy between the declared value of the cars and the prices published on the Internet, he said. "Aside from the invoice value, there are other costs and capital to arrive at the dutiable value."

Customs notified PGA Cars, which imports Porsche and Audi cars, of the audit last month. The car company must submit its financial documents to Customs, or face suspension or removal of its import license.

Once PGA Cars has completed the submission of pertinent documents, Customs will have 120 days to complete the audit.

Biazon said this was not the first time a car dealer has been subjected to a post-entry audit. Customs is also monitoring and auditing vehicle importers from the so-called gray market, he said.

source: interaksyon.com

Ahead of Christmas rush, Customs warns OFWs, balikbayans on 'unrealistic' freight forwarding prices

MANILA – Unrealistic cutthroat prices by cargo forwarders are to blame for the spate of undelivered 'balikbayan' boxes, the Bureau of Customs said on Monday.

Commissioner Rufino Biazon told InterAksyon.com that freight forwarders are driving down their rates to attract more customers, who end up not receiving their packages because the cargo handlers are unable to settle taxes and duties due on the shipments.

He said many cargo forwarders failed to settle the taxes and duties on their container shipments starting last year, as most of these firms engaged in price undercutting so they can attract more overseas Filipino workers to avail of their services.

The standard fee for a balikbayan box is $100, inclusive of taxes and duties, but some cargo forwarders have been offering their services for as low as $50 a box, Biazon said.

"Then when the cargoes arrive at the ports, the forwarders have no money to pay the taxes and duties because they are charging unbelievably low [rates] to their customers. The cargo forwarder's failure to pay the taxes and duties is the reason why they are blacklisted," the Customs chief said.

"As a policy, the containers may only be released once the consignees have paid the corresponding taxes and duties of these containers. We don’t release unless the consignee fulfills its obligation. These cargoes, which include balikbayan boxes, are consolidated in one container, and the basis of the taxes and duties is per container and not per box," he said.

The consignee, which is the cargo forwarder, has 30 days to settle the taxes and duties, failing which Customs would forfeit the shipment in favor of government and auction it off.

InterAksyon.com earlier reported that the Department of Trade and Industry-Philippine Shippers' Bureau has blacklisted a number of cargo forwarders and their foreign partners because of consumer complaints on undelivered balikbayan boxes.

The blacklist was released just as OFWs began shipping home balikbayan boxes for the Christmas season.

The DTI-PSB has since revised the blacklist, removing some forwarders that addressed customer concerns and adding others that are the subject of similar complaints.

source: interaksyon.com

Customs to revive amnesty for tax-deficient imported vehicle buyers

MANILA - After failing to hit monthly revenue targets since he assumed the post, Customs Commissioner Rufino Biazon will revive an amnesty program benefiting vehicle importers who failed to pay correct duties on their purchases.

"We are presently coordinating with the Land Transportation Office for the forging of MOA that will enable us to pursue with the VDP within the year," Biazon said, referring to the Voluntary Disclosure Program.

"The VDP will strictly pertain to private individuals and does not include dealers or manufacturers," he said.

The Customs chief said the amnesty will benefit only private vehicle owners since they may not be liable for any erroneous entries on import documents submitted to the bureau.

"Dealers or those involved in selling vehicles should know better whether the importation entries they respectively filled out were erroneous or not since they are engaged in the business of buying and selling vehicles. Hence, unlike private vehicle owners, dealers and manufacturers cannot invoke good faith,” Biazon said.

"It took a while before we could finally push through with the program since we still have to secure the necessary clearances from the Department of Finance," he said. The Customs chief didn't say how much the program would contribute to revenues.

The Aquino administration was supposed to have revived the program last year.

The Arroyo administration introduced the VDP under then Customs chief Napoleon Morales pursuant to Customs Administrative Order 5-2007, which was aimed at rewarding honest traders and penalizing unscrupulous ones.

The order provides that if an importer realizes the mistake or error before their import papers are audited by Customs, they may avail of the program to correct these mistakes and settle the obligations.

Should Customs discover these irregularities during regular post-entry audit, the erring importer or vehicles owner will have to pay the penalty, ranging from 50 to 800 percent of the corresponding taxes and duties that were due.

Biazon said the program does not exempt an importer from criminal prosecution should they be discovered to have committed fraud in reducing their tax liability.

The Post Entry Audit Group is tasked to review shipment records to detect any discrepancies and irregularities in the importation.

The decision to revive the amnesty program comes amid Customs' failure to hit monthly revenue targets. Last month, the bureau was missed its P28.34 billion collection goal by P3.59 billion.

This brought the first five-month revenue tally to P119.71 billion, or 13 percent short of the agency's P137.71 billion collection target for the period. It is tasked to raise P346.41 billion for the whole year to help keep the government's budget deficit below the P279 billion ceiling.

source: interaksyon.com

Customs Foils DVD Smuggle Bid

Alert personnel of the Customs X-Ray Inspection Project (XIP) have foiled an attempt to smuggle some 700,000 pieces of blank Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs) which illegally arrived at the Port of Cebu.

XIP head and lawyer Lourdes Mangaoang said the seizure came after the shipment's consignee, ZAKHRIS General Merchandise of Mabolo, Cebu presented a fake import permit to Customs authorities.

She said the importation of DVDs requires the approval of the Optical Media Board.

“It was certified by OMB Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ronnie Ricketts that their documents were fake,” Mangaoang said.

The XIP placed the total value of the confiscated DVDs at P6 million. They were found stacked in a 20-footer container van.

“If smugglers think that some out-ports of the Bureau of Customs are lax, they are definitely wrong. All BoC regulated ports in the country are on a 24/7 alert mode for suspicious shipments,” Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said.

source: mb.com.ph