The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has established a donation policy for the Management Information System and Technology Group (MISTG).
Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 11-2018 provides a framework for evaluating donation proposals for the MISTG, , which is in charge of the agency’s IT systems. Signed on August 9 and made available online recently, the order took effect immediately.
“Donors are encouraged to seek the assistance of their respective legal and financial advisors in matters relating to their donations, including the resulting tax consequences,” CMO 11-2018 stated.
Donors may be individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, foundations, organizations, or joint venture companies. Donors may be from the private sector or government entities or agencies, either local or foreign.
Donations or gifts may be in the form of infrastructure, real estate property, use of facilities, equipment or machinery, supplies, technology support or license rights to specific technologies, training and skills development. It may not be in the form of cash or cash equivalents, i.e. gift check, credit certificates, or other monetary substitutes, whether given directly or by other schemes; company stocks or securities, whether or not publicly traded; or personal services, except in the form of training services as an incident of a donation of a technology (hardware or software) that has been properly evaluated and accepted.
BOC said it must always maintain its independence and integrity, thus, before accepting a donation from any source, it will “identify whether doing so may give rise to a real or apparent conflict of interest, or whether the Bureau of Customs’ mission, objectives, strategic priorities, independence, integrity or objectivity may be compromised as a result.”
CMO 11-2018 states that the BOC reserves the right to decline a donation.
“The Bureau may decline to accept any donation at any time for any reason,” it added.
In particular, BOC may decline donations that are likely to have any of the following effects or can reasonably be expected to be perceived as having any of the following effects: compromising BOC’s independence or integrity; conflicting with BOC’s mission, objectives, or strategic priorities; infringing on BOC’s sovereign functions and duty to its stakeholders or to the general public; causing harm to the reputation of BOC or its personnel; placing BOC in breach of any law or regulation applicable to it, or any policy of the national government, or any treaty; burdening BOC with costs or excessive administrative obligations; and exposing BOC and/or its personnel to uncertain risks or potential liabilities.
Anonymous donations will be refused.
BOC under the new order has created a Donation Review and Acceptance Committee composed of MISTG and Internal Administration Group.
It shall officially accept, review and evaluate donation proposals, and make recommendation to the Customs commissioner on whether to accept or reject a donation proposal. It shall also oversee the preparation of the Donation Acceptance Agreement and other material agreements.
The Donation Acceptance Agreement formalizes the terms and conditions, including the value of the donation, under which BOC may accept the proposed donation.
The acceptance of the donation will not establish a partnership or joint venture of any kind between the donor and BOC, CMO 11-2018 notes.
It shall also not result in any portion of BOC’s work being branded as a project sponsored by the donor, nor will BOC “publicly acknowledge the donation and will emphasize that the donor expressly made the donation at arm’s length and without conditions.”
The donor must also agree not to portray the acceptance of the donation as an endorsement by BOC of the donor’s products, services, or business activities or any position advocated by the donor.
Also, the donor shall not be allowed to restrict or impose conditions on the use of and access to the donated product, system or service.
Earlier, MISTG deputy commissioner Jeffrey Ian Dy told PortCalls that the Door-to-Door Consolidators Association of the Philippines expressed willingness to donate a system to automate the monitoring of balikbayan (personal effects) boxes and allow the agency to check whether a certain qualified Filipino overseas had already exceeded his yearly limit on the value of his balikbayan boxes or not under the law. – Roumina Pablo
