Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has ordered the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to immediately release smuggled rice and other food items seized by the agency to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to augment ongoing government preparations for the possible onslaught of typhoon “Ompong” in Northern Luzon and other areas this week.
“Please release all seized rice and foodstuff in your possession to the DSWD for possible disaster relief,” Dominguez told BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña.
Dominguez’s directive was in response to President Duterte’s order to all government agencies to ensure the highest level of readiness for the typhoon.
According to the Finance chief, “government-to-government transfers in emergency situations can be legally fast-tracked” as in the case of the BOC release of the seized food stocks to the DSWD for disaster relief.
Under Chapter 10, Section 1141 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), goods under BOC custody that are up for disposal “may be donated to another government agency or declared for official use by the Bureau, after approval of the Secretary of Finance, or sold at a public auction within 30 days after a 10-day notice posted at a public place at the port where the goods are located and published electronically or in a newspaper of general circulation.”
Goods suitable for shelter, food items, clothing materials and medicines “may be donated to the DSWD,” the CMTA states.
Dominguez was present during a command conference led by the President Thursday afternoon at Camp Aguinaldo to discuss ongoing preparations for the possible disastrous impact of “Ompong,” which could possibly reach supertyphoon status.
The latest weather forecasts as of press time expect Ompong to slam into the northern province of Cagayan Saturday morning and is expected to bring heavy rains within its 900-kilometer radius.
Earlier, Dominguez instructed the BOC to coordinate with the DSWD on the distribution of confiscated rice stocks to flood victims and the poorest municipalities in the country, in response to a proposal of Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Cua.
Lapeña reported during a recent Department of Finance (DOF) Executive Committee (Execom) meeting that the BOC seized in July some 100 containers with 50,000 sacks of rice worth P125 million at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
The shipment from Thailand was consigned to the Sta. Rosa Farm Products Corp. but without the necessary import permits, Lapeña said.
Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said Cua, who chairs the House ways and means committee, had followed up on his proposal on the donation of the seized rice stocks during a roundtable discussion last month organized by the panel to discuss the status of the social mitigation programs under the first tax reform law.
Cua had earlier proposed that smuggled rice be donated to families affected by the recent typhoons.
The lawmaker said during the hearing that rather than auction off the stocks, which could possibly end up in the hands of smugglers who use dummies to buy these back, it would be better for the BOC to just donate them to flood victims.
Dominguez had also directed the BOC to keep a closer watch on the entry of “hot” stocks of rice and sugar.
Following Dominguez’s directive, the BOC started discussing with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) plans to team up with these law enforcement agencies in the anti-smuggling drive.
Lapeña also proposed the establishment of a data-sharing system between the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to plug revenue leakages and help pinpoint and prosecute smugglers and tax evaders.
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