THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) is stepping up its Run After the Smugglers (RATS) program to earn additional revenues.
Recent policies were adopted so that smuggling cases are better handled, including updating RATS prosecutors on new customs laws and cases through seminars, and forging stronger ties with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Solicitor General.
For the first quarter of the year, RATS has already filed 122 civil cases in various regional trial courts, three of which were recently decided in BOC’s favor. There are also 28 cases pending before the Court of Appeals and 58 before the Court of Tax Appeals. A total of 44 cases have been submitted to the DOJ for resolution. Six are under preliminary investigation.
Last year, the RATS program brought in P1.5 billion in additional revenues for the BOC, mostly from cases against Pilipinas Shell and Chevron Philippines.
Chevron paid BOC P964.89 million—the biggest amount earned so far under the program as the case involves company shipments since 1996. Pilipinas Shell paid P220 million. The rest of the amount came from Union Refinery Corp., El Greco Ship Manning and Management Corp, Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Western Guaranty, Metal Forming Corp, Kudos Metal Company, FGU Insurance Corp, John Holland Construction Corp, Knitech Mfg Inc, and Federal Phoenix Assurance Co Inc.
