President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he wanted significant reforms in the bureaucracy to curb smuggling, saying government agencies must do something to address the issue.
Marcos said this in a meeting with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) on Friday, Jan. 13.
During the meeting, Marcos said that the present system was not working.
"To be brutally frank about it, we have a system, but they are not working. The smuggling here in this country is absolutely rampant," he said.
"So it does not matter to me how many systems we have in place. They do not work," he added.
The Chief Executive said whether the systems are ineffective or whether it's the way they're being operated or the result of side deals by the people, the result is that the systems currently in place are not working.
He added that the government could not continue to sweep the issue under the rug because the cost to the state and private businesses is enormous.
According to President Marcos, issues pertaining to the ease of doing business and the inefficiency of the country's airports and seaports were the major complaints from the business sector.
He said concerned agencies have to be more innovative and that the government has to delineate functions or establish new agencies if necessary to be effective.
In a statement, Malacañang said one of the recommendations raised was opening up the database to the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ensure efficient information sharing.
Officials said it is a way of correlating information to fight smuggling, as even enforcers have difficulty going after smugglers because of the documentary requirements or the paper trail.