The Department of Finance (DOF) refuted reports that specific lifestyle checks and tax audits would be conducted on personnel of the Bureau of Customs, (BOC), specifically 27 officials who had been detailed to the Customs Policy Research Office (CPRO). At the same time, the DOF reiterated that it would continue checks being done by the agency’s Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) as part of its regular operations.
The BOC is an attached agency of the DOF with the latter exercising supervisory powers over revenue-collecting agencies of the government.
“This is not a witch-hunt and we are not singling anyone out. The Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS) regularly conducts lifestyle checks on officials and employees of the DOF and all its attached agencies, including the BOC and the BIR, and has been doing so for the past four years. On the other hand, the BIR regularly conducts tax liability audits using a risk profile system. These measures were implemented from the beginning of the Aquino Administration as part of good governance,” said Commissioner Kim S. Jacinto-Henares of Bureau of Internal Revenue, chairperson of the DOF’s Revenue Cluster.
“The current reform agenda for the Bureau of Customs includes short, medium and long-term programs that focus on capacity-building for the agency. It is separate from the RIPS program, which covers the DOF and all its attached agencies and has been in implementation since 2009.”
Customs Commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon, for his part, reiterated that the 27 Customs officials who had been moved to the Customs Policy Research Office (CPRO) were chosen based solely on experience and expertise in tariff and trade policies as well as exposure to global best practice in customs operations.
“These officials are neither on floating status nor have they been demoted. They have been chosen to chart the future of the Bureau of Customs because they are among the most qualified to take on the job. Their output at the CPRO will form part of the reforms at the BOC and we eagerly await their recommendations,” said Biazon in a press briefing on Monday.
“Let me reiterate that our goal is to institute sustainable and effective reforms that will transform the Bureau of Customs into a professional, credible and competent government agency.”
The widespread reforms at the Bureau of Customs started with an audit of all personnel and the subsequent detail of 27 officials to the CPRO. Biazon explained that the CPRO would contribute to a three-pronged reform program at the BOC, specifically the modernization of personnel through training and development; adaptation of relevant tools and equipment through the upgrade of the agency’s IT infrastructure and automation of frontline and back-end services; and lastly, a review and change in policies and Customs administration, including changes to the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines, which has remained largely unchanged for decades.
