March 15, 2006 · Posted in: Governance, In the News
Smuggling in the Philippines
LAST week’s airport arrest of a suspected smuggler may have scored points for the government but the involvement of Bureau of Customs officials in the release of the shipment of plastic resin that was misdeclared as packaging materials only indicates that all is not well with its anti-smuggling campaign.
Samuel Lee, who government prosecutors recommended to be slapped with three counts of smuggling along with his cohorts, allegedly ordered the diversion of three container vans of plastic resin from a customs bonded warehouse to a company in Valenzuela City. He was later released after posting a bail of P360,000. Lee was among those named as suspected big-time smugglers in a recent Senate hearing, along with Vicky Toh and Lucio Lao Co, both reportedly close to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.
Though lauding Lee’s arrest, Senator Mar Roxas said that the anti-smuggling drive has become a ningas cogon campaign. “This is just one arrest among a long, long list of notorious smugglers who continue to sabotage the economy,” he said.
Roxas, who chairs the Senate committees of trade and commerce and economic affairs, said about P175 billion in revenues is lost every year due to technical smuggling.
With the issue fortunately back in the headlines, we bring back PCIJ’s four-part series on smuggling in the Philippines published in late October 2004. The series focuses, among others, on technical smuggling — which involves the misdeclaration undervaluation, misclassification of goods, and other kinds of importation fraud — citing the example of onion farmers in Nueva Ecija and shoemakers in Marikina who are being driven out of business. It shows figures from industry organizations and government studies to show that technical smuggling is now being done on a massive and unparalleled scale.
Technical smuggling, in fact, is the main way in which goods are brought into the country. Outright smuggling, where goods are slipped in without going through Customs, is minor in comparison. And yet, the Bureau of Customs does not acknowledge the magnitude of technical smuggling in the country, much less take measures to contain it. The series examines the collusion between Customs officials and technical smugglers as well as the inability of government agencies to get their act together on smuggling.
The PCIJ smuggling report begins by giving an overview of the extent of the problem: the estimate of the revenues lost to smuggling range from P89 billion to P200 billion a year, enough to wipe out a big chunk of the budget deficit and to finance the building of thousands of schools and one million low-cost houses.
The series examines the impact of housing on both agriculture and industry. Farmers cannot sell their produce because the market is swamped with cheap imports and manufacturers are forced to downsize or close down operations because of the entry of dirt-cheap smuggled products. Almost every industry in the country has been affected: illegal imports range from onions to shoes, from chicken legs to pork belly, to floor tiles, tires, garments, resins (used to make plastics) and even charcoal. These wares flood both wet markets and upscale malls, easing out local goods.
Read on at pcij.org.
15 Responses to Smuggling in the Philippines
penpenpen88
March 15th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
tama.. may i add to that illegal smuggled alien fly by night businessmen selling those smuggled goods.. killing all those legit businessess who are taxed heavily na nga wala pang protection sa mga ganyan… gagawa lang nang fake filipino name gagawa ng fake filipino passport lalagyan lang ang bir para maka pag negosyo dito (ever heard of 168??) yun na theyre in business…bagsak presyo.. ksi mis-declared yung mg benta nila.. sinung talo?? yun mga legit na biz… duality in the implementation of the law folks.. trademark of this administration.. gusto nila lahat maging legal.. eh yung systema nila di nila binabantayan bagkos sa kanila pa ngmumula yung illegal n gawain..sila ang pumpatay sa mga lehitimong mga negosyo.. fair ba yan ate glue? is that what president who claims she’s the best person for the job should do??
tambuli
March 15th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
d lang yan, most of the illegal drugs enters through our customs, nakakalusot diba? smuggling is killing legit business here, pag kay ate glue, mag illegal ka nalang kikita ka pa, why dont they apply the full force of the law against these smugglers?? d ba economic sabotage is a heinuos crime? mas malala pa nga yan sa mga coup coup …. pinapatay mo unti unti ang kabuhayan ng mga tao sa pinas … tsk tsk tsk …. she is really the last best hope
penpenpen88
March 15th, 2006 at 2:54 pm
yup… para syang si atienza puro superficial lng yung reforms kuno.. root cause po dapat ang pagtuunan nya ng pansin… di po yung economic numbers lang yung pinaparade nya parati.. dali lng mag generate ng numbers eh… problem is.. is it being felt? if it is being felt.. why only now? 6 years na sya in office y only now? mga tao dapat mag tanung dyan.. mga masa.. di yung mga elite sa makati.. ksi khit papanu kumikita tlga mga yan.. tyo ang dapat mag tnung.. saan na yung fertilizer fund.. san ginamit yung road tax?.. bakit ang taas ng kuryente natin.. bakit dumadami ang mahihirap natin.. bkit di gumiginhawa buhay natin.. bt walang trabaho dito sa [pinas… those are the questions that needs to be asked
polsjs
March 15th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
if gov can get back some of the tax breaks they give to foreign investors gov can have more money for antismuggling operations.
Chabeli
March 15th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
“Popular sya sa mga chinoy talaga…Yung mga goods sa SM, sya ren ang nag susuply…Malapit sya kay Tommy (Toh). Kadalasan, nagkikita sila sa Waterfront sa Cebu.”
How true kaya?
schumey
March 16th, 2006 at 3:44 am
This has been reported by the Tulfo brothers ‘di ba? Panay nga ang tira ng mga yan kina Tommy & Vicky Toh, pati na rin kay Sammy Lee. On the otherhand, panay naman ang protect kay Big Mike. Kung bobo siguro ako, sasabihin ko na walang kinalaman diyan si FG, pero ‘di ako tanga para ‘di ko makita ang connection.
A Libel case had been filed by FG against Jinggoy. Let’s wait and see how it goes. I don’t like the Estradas, but if something like this which affects the everyday survival of the ordinary Filipino, ibang usapan na.
Smuggling has grown to such gigantic scale that it deprives us Filipinos the basic services our government should be giving us. Heto tayo ngayon at nagbabayad ng kung ano-anong tax para pang puno sa kakulangang ng pamahalaan.
If GMA insists that our economy is growing, I can only say is, “tell that to the Marines”.
penpenpen88
March 16th, 2006 at 9:44 am
i think she’s telling it to the whole aFP thru bribing em with houses and increasing their budgets so that her loyal generals eh mas madaming makukurakot…. para matahimik na yung mg military… silence em with money.. works every time..
lokalokang matino
March 16th, 2006 at 10:07 am
SMUGGLING will not prosper without the BACKING and APPROVAL from the powerful.
Sino ang maglalakas loob gumawa nyan ng walang basbas sa itaas?
mike arroyo can always deny involvement , it’s his right? BUT DOES ANYBODY BELIEVE HIM?
penpenpen88
March 16th, 2006 at 3:27 pm
SMUGGLING will not prosper without the BACKING and APPROVAL from the powerful.
— tama me padrino dapat yan… so ang tanung in the past 6 years me big fish ba na smuggler ng nahuli?? if not? bkit??? bkit sinusweldohan natin ng isang ahensya na di naman nagpapatupad ng mandato nyang protectahan ang mga ports natin against smugglers??? bakit natin susweldohan yung tong ng hire sa kanya???
freewheel
March 16th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
smuggling, technical or outright, deprives the state of revenues, alright.
how come nothing is heard of skimming or dodgers of corporate income tax, ad valorem and its relations?
years back, i happen to chance a ‘little known’ ( maybe to a layman, but definitely known to SGV, Cunanan, Laya/Manabat and other orgs. offering ‘tax services’ ) govt. office called the Court of Tax Appeals. Almost, if not all top 100 corporations have filed their respective appeals for reprieve, etc. etc. the figures boggled my arithmetically challenged mind– say, if smuggling figures boil down to Php 200 billion a year, try and figure out 50X this amount.
kaya, everytime PCCI and Fil-Chinese CCI issues statement of support to a malacanan occupant, it does not surprise me anymore. but SMEs who barely survive year in and out, always bear the brunt of masisipag na tax collectors.
if only PCIJ try and snoop around this office, worthwhile effort i reckon.
lutongmakaw
March 17th, 2006 at 11:27 am
Smuggling will contnue as long the government leadership remains corrupt. Where else can she gets the funds to feed her minions to stay and support her….
penpenpen88
March 17th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
kaya, everytime PCCI and Fil-Chinese CCI issues statement of support to a malacanan occupant, it does not surprise me anymore. but SMEs who barely survive year in and out, always bear the brunt of masisipag na tax collectors
— i agree.. its the sme’s who bear the brunt, the ire and the harrasement of those tax collectors… kahit la kang violation..hinahanapan ka nila pra lang mag lagay ka…tsk tsk..
Jophen Baui
January 2nd, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Hello, Can you recommend any reference material, archived or uploaded, that may shed light on the gunrunning, and other smuggling activities (blueseal etc) that happened in Batangas (and has been happening since time immemorial) specifically from the early 1940s after World War 1 until the decade of the eighties? Thank you for this series. It’s very good and very sumptuous information.
Earvin James M. Atienza
January 25th, 2012 at 1:57 am
May I ask the honorable researchers of PCIJ where they get their statistics of smuggling in the Philippines? I mean, how do you measure a crime of which primary purpose is precisely not to have their illegal trade recorded (pure smuggling)? And even with technical smuggling, how do you really measure this? What methods of measurements are made for one to conclude an increase or decrease in smuggling? Does the PCIJ rely on police reports alone? Please enlighten this curious mind of mine.
Thank you very much!
Borongbong
March 12th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Isa lang ang nkikita kong solusyon dyan. Tanggalin ang customs, taxes at duties para nman pantay pantay ang lahat at taasan ang wage ng mga manggagawa. Reduce regulation.