Philippine Customs deputy commissioner for Assessment and Operations Coordinating Group (AOCG) Atty Agaton Teodoro Uvero has been detailed to the Department of Finance (DOF) to focus on the passage of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), which has been languishing for years in Congress.
Uvero retains his position as BOC deputy commissioner but the DOF, BOC’s mother agency, is appointing an officer-in-charge to handle day-to-day operations at the AOCG. PortCalls sources said this will likely be Juvy Danofrata. A tax specialist, Danofrata was appointed acting director at DOF in May 2015.
Uvero’s detail at the DOF covers a five-month period.
In a Customs Personnel Order, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina said Uvero is being “detailed to the Domestic Finance Group” of the DOF in the interest of “exigency of service and in furtherance of the ongoing reforms within the Bureau of Customs, in compliance with existing Civil Service rules and regulations…”
The order, approved by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, said “Mr Uvero shall serve as the Department’s legislative liaison, and shall provide assistance to the ongoing works concerning pending customs legislation, especially the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.”
Talks are rife that Uvero, a customs and logistics specialist and the most knowledgeable in the customs field among deputy commissioners at the BOC, has been detailed to the DOF because he is a reformist, having been appointed by President Benigno Aquino III to help rid BOC of smugglers. “He’s been placed in the DOF freezer because he is not considered a team player, and is in the way of certain powerful groups trying to make money at the BOC,” according to a PortCalls source.
The timing of Uvero’s transfer is particularly curious because it is election season, the source added. The BOC has always been rumored to be the source of campaign funds by many politicians during polling time.
The CMTA is a priority measure under the 16th Congress. It has been in the Congressional backburner for years, initially introduced during the 15th Congress.
Senate president Franklin Drilon said the CMTA, as well as other priority bills, will be green lighted when sessions resume on January 18. The CMTA was approved on second reading by the Senate on December 14. The measure has been approved on third and final reading at the Lower House.
Senate Bill No. 2968, or An Act Modernizing the Customs and Tariff Administration, will increase transparency and simplify procedures, increase the de minimis value (valuation ceiling for goods below which no duty or tax is charged and clearance procedures, including data requirements, are minimal); raise the tax exemption ceiling for packages sent by balikbayans and returning residents; and provide harsher penalties for smuggling, according to the DOF.
DOF said the CMTA will “mandate the use of information communications technology to enhance operations, enforcement, and reduce face-to-face transactions.” The agency added the measure will “simplify procedures and help eradicate corruption.” It will also provide a de minimis value of P5,000 (in the Senate version) below which no duties and taxes will be collected.
Violations of customs laws will merit higher fines and penalties and will be considered “economic sabotage.” If the amount of the smuggled goods exceeds P200 million, the penalty will be reclusion perpetua and there will be a fine of P50 million.
