MANILA - Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto on Friday urged the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to install a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system that will record inspections of Balikbayan boxes as part of the campaign to prevent smuggling of commercial and illegal goods.
In a statement, Recto said that BOC has a budget of P3.2 billion in 2015, which could be used partly to procure a CCTV system, which is aside from the estimated P1.01 billion daily collection.
For this year, BOC has a revenue goal of P436.6 billion, or corresponding to approximately P1.2 billion per day.
"With this amount of money, it can certainly pay for a CCTV system, or what we can call Customs Closed-Circuit TV, so that whenever its personnel opens a balikbayan box, that inspection is duly documented by a camera," Recto said.
Recto said Customs can't plead poverty on the purchase of CCTVs. "If a neighborhood sari-sari can have one, or a small carinderia can afford it, Customs certainly could."
"Kahit nga taxi may dashboard cam, siguro naman kaya din ng Customs magkaroon nito (Even taxi cabs have dash cams)," Recto said.
Recto added that BOC also cannot proffer the excuse that CCTVs, which are very affordable, would be hard to procure locally.
"Bumabaha nito sa Raon at Binondo. Alam dapat ito ng BOC, kasi dumadaan sa kanila ang mga kargamentong ito (The shops on Raon [Gonzalo Puyat] Street and Binondo district is flooded with these items. BOC should know this because we assume these products pass through their inspection)," he underscored.
BOC has previously announced that it will open balikbayan boxes for inspection based on random profiling procedures to intercept boxes being used to smuggle in taxable goods.
"Kung gagawin man nila ito, dapat naka-video para kung sakaling magreklamo ang consignee na mayroong nawala, may pruweba ang BOC na walang anomalyang nangyari nang binuksan ang kahon (If they are going to do this, it's better to have a video record of the actual procedure to deal with possible complaints that may arise)," Recto said.
Recto said that installing the CCTV is also for the protection of BOC personnel. "They would be able to do their job secure in the knowledge that they're on candid camera."
"The use of a video file in business transactions is commonplace nowadays. Eh di ba yung ilang shippers nga, pinag-se-selfie pa ang nag-re-receive ng balikbayan box as proof that the box was received intact (Don't shipping agents take selfie pictures of the recipients of the balikbayan box)?" Recto said.
However, Recto said, the bigger issue is for BOC to run after big-time smugglers, those who, for example, bring in rice in ships as big as a mall.
"Or, as in the case of the reported smuggling of oil and fuel, in tankers a million times bigger and easier to spot than a balikbayan box," Recto said.
Read More: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/116390/recto-urges-boc-to-install-cctv-to-secure-balikbayan-boxes
In a statement, Recto said that BOC has a budget of P3.2 billion in 2015, which could be used partly to procure a CCTV system, which is aside from the estimated P1.01 billion daily collection.
For this year, BOC has a revenue goal of P436.6 billion, or corresponding to approximately P1.2 billion per day.
"With this amount of money, it can certainly pay for a CCTV system, or what we can call Customs Closed-Circuit TV, so that whenever its personnel opens a balikbayan box, that inspection is duly documented by a camera," Recto said.
Recto said Customs can't plead poverty on the purchase of CCTVs. "If a neighborhood sari-sari can have one, or a small carinderia can afford it, Customs certainly could."
"Kahit nga taxi may dashboard cam, siguro naman kaya din ng Customs magkaroon nito (Even taxi cabs have dash cams)," Recto said.
Recto added that BOC also cannot proffer the excuse that CCTVs, which are very affordable, would be hard to procure locally.
"Bumabaha nito sa Raon at Binondo. Alam dapat ito ng BOC, kasi dumadaan sa kanila ang mga kargamentong ito (The shops on Raon [Gonzalo Puyat] Street and Binondo district is flooded with these items. BOC should know this because we assume these products pass through their inspection)," he underscored.
BOC has previously announced that it will open balikbayan boxes for inspection based on random profiling procedures to intercept boxes being used to smuggle in taxable goods.
"Kung gagawin man nila ito, dapat naka-video para kung sakaling magreklamo ang consignee na mayroong nawala, may pruweba ang BOC na walang anomalyang nangyari nang binuksan ang kahon (If they are going to do this, it's better to have a video record of the actual procedure to deal with possible complaints that may arise)," Recto said.
Recto said that installing the CCTV is also for the protection of BOC personnel. "They would be able to do their job secure in the knowledge that they're on candid camera."
"The use of a video file in business transactions is commonplace nowadays. Eh di ba yung ilang shippers nga, pinag-se-selfie pa ang nag-re-receive ng balikbayan box as proof that the box was received intact (Don't shipping agents take selfie pictures of the recipients of the balikbayan box)?" Recto said.
However, Recto said, the bigger issue is for BOC to run after big-time smugglers, those who, for example, bring in rice in ships as big as a mall.
"Or, as in the case of the reported smuggling of oil and fuel, in tankers a million times bigger and easier to spot than a balikbayan box," Recto said.
Read More: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/116390/recto-urges-boc-to-install-cctv-to-secure-balikbayan-boxes
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