DAVAO CITY – Bayan Muna Representative Neri Colmenares said the decision of the Bureau of Custom to stop the random inspection of Balikbayan boxes was a result of the people’s outrage over the policy.
“This shows that the government can be forced to withdraw its anti-people policies if the people will assert their rights,” he said.
However, Colmenares maintained that the investigation on their resolution will continue.
Colmenares and Rep. Karlos Ysagani Zarate, filed a resolution directing the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs to conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, on the BOC policy of mandating the opening of Balikbayan boxes to check supposed smuggling by Overseas Filipino Workers.
“(W)e will pursue the investigation to find out: First, what happened to the hundreds of millions allocated to the BOC for the buying of X-ray machines, K9 units and other anti-smuggling equipment? Second, how much revenue was lost by the BOC due to big time smuggling of luxury cars, smuggled rice, container vans containing luxury items, including the status of 2,000 container vans reportedly lost by the BOC a number of years ago,” Colmenares said.
He said they will also investigate on “what should be the current duty exempt valuation for Balikbayan boxes, considering the current prices and the inflation rate.”
“We will also investigate the revenue lost by government due to the exemption given to international carriers and selected forwarders as well as the number of customs officials investigated and disciplined for tampering with packages,” said Colmenares. (davaotoday.com)
