Smuggling is the illegal transport of goods by stealth, with the intention of avoiding government tax or regulations. An economy, especially one that is growing, must not tolerate any form of smuggling as it doesn’t only lead to loss of government revenue, but also creates economic instability, destroys industries, and gives rise to unemployment.
The reality, however, is bleaker. Since time immemorial, the scourge of smuggling has affected generations of government workers, businesspeople, and ordinary citizens. With easy money flowing in and out of pockets, the “get-rich-quick” allure of smuggling has generated billions of dollars in revenue for the criminals and loss for the government — money that should’ve funded socio-economic projects and services.
Each administration has carried the brunt of the struggle to stamp out smuggling. On a regular basis, personnel are changed or transferred to different departments to avoid patronage, revamp among the top officers is done to prevent favoritism, and technology is harnessed to digitalize operations to weed out red tape, graft, and corruption. Even with all these, it seemed like it’s still “business as usual” for smugglers.
The Marcos administration is very much aware of this smuggling plague. In fact, the President, in a meeting last Jan. 12, 2023 in Malacañang with the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), lamented that “the present system is not working despite efforts to curb smuggling.”
“To be brutally frank, we have systems, but these are not working. The smuggling is absolutely rampant. It does not matter how many systems we have in place, they do not work,” the President said, as quoted by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO). “We really have to find something else. We cannot continue to depend on these systems, which have already proven themselves to be quite ineffective.”
During the meeting, one of the President’s suggestions is to seek assistance and support from the private sector in the fight versus rampant smuggling. PCO Secretary Cheloy Garafil, in a statement, reiterated the President’s directive, adding that concerned agencies “must step up and be more innovative to address smuggling.”
“The government cannot continue to sweep the issue under the rug because the cost to the state and private businesses is enormous,” the President said, noting that there is a need to delineate the government’s functions or establish new agencies, if needed, just to become effective. The President, Garafil noted, wants “reform in the bureaucracy to curb smuggling, reduce logistics costs, and ensure ease of doing business as the government works to prop up investments and business activity in the country.”
If this is a first step in the arduous long journey to fight smuggling, then listening to the private sector (aka listening to their major complaints about inefficiencies in the country’s airports, seaports, Customs, etc.) is a practical move of the President. He will need all support and suggestions from major businesses, small enterprises, down to each government worker to chip away the “smuggling glacier.”
Another step, according to Garafil, is “opening up the database to the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture,” which was one of the recommendations made during the meeting with the PSAC to ensure the “efficient sharing of information.” “Officials said it is a way of correlating information to fight smuggling. Even enforcers, they said, have a problem going after smugglers because of the documentary requirements or the paper chase.”
We have a long way to go, but at least — based on Malacañang’s move — we are heading the right way.