Smuggling — up close and personal

Yep, it seems that a lot of people are smarting from the ills of smuggling, based on the e-mails I got from our readers.  Some of them are importers, legitimate I guess because why would they bother to come out in support of the anti-smuggling efforts now being undertaken by a civilian group of businessmen headed by the Federation of Philippine Industries under its president, Mr. Jesus Aranza.

 Mr. Aranza has come out with fighting words against these unscrupulous smugglers, and may I add that some of those words were actually for these smugglers’ cohorts at the Bureau of Customs, under whose very noses bold and outright smuggling takes place almost as a matter of course. I’m not such a cynic to think that everyone is on the take at the Bureau, but it is difficult to erase altogether the tarnished image of this agency, notwithstanding the palpable efforts now being undertaken to salvage what is left of it. Heads of our local industries have joined hands with government to seriously address this issue, and I heard that brass over at Customs is willing to cooperate with them. Incidentally, Mr. Aranza was tapped by GMA to head the private sector group on the war against smuggling, and he is working hand in hand with DoF, USec. Tony Villar of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group.  He rues the fact that most of his recommendations have fallen on deaf ears and calls on the Department of Finance to give him and his group a fighting chance to give their 10 cents’ worth in this fight against smuggling.

One of the more interesting reactions I got was from a Pinoy importer of Philippine products, Mr. J. Reyes. He has been in the import business for some two decades now and has chalked up a lot of experience in the process. His lengthy e-mail was very constructive.  He offered the fact that 90-95 percent of importers are legitimate, with import/export as their major business. These legitimate businessmen deal mainly with banks for payments and collections, as opposed to their illegitimate counterparts. The five to 10 percent cent which comprise the illegitimate importers (read: smugglers in various forms) are the ones Customs should be extra careful with.  These smugglers apparently use new and unfamiliar names for their companies, so right off, that should sound off a tiny alarm.

Mr. Reyes also underscored the need for Customs to check and counter-check the LCs used by these importers.  All such transactions must be coursed through established and reputable banks which presumably take the extra step to verify the identification of the importers.  This is where the new Transparency in Banking Law comes in. Under this law, the bank or any other financing institution is required to verify identities even before individuals are allowed to open accounts in their establishments. For corporations, the SEC documents, etc., are also verified, along with the identities of the principals. The money launderers would have another step to hurdle with this new law.  The good folks at the bourses, by the way, hail the benefits of this new law which they say chalks up a good mark for the country in the global fight against money laundering.

Anyway, Mr. Reyes volunteered that, the way the US Customs people do it, they have a warehouse at the very site where, upon smelling an anomalous shipment, they proceed to unload the questionable container under the direct supervision of higher management. He says that these are usually done under the watchful eyes of a surveillance camera to record and document everything.  Furthermore, this is done at the importer’s expense.  If their hunch is proven right, the appropriate cases (over shipment, under-declaration, mis-classification, etc.) can be filed against the importer. Hopefully, we have a system in place where these errant importers get blacklisted, or we will just have these cases re-cycled and re-hashed over the years.

Thanks for your concerned reaction Mr. Reyes, and to our other readers who e-mailed their sentiments and reactions.

Location, location, location and with a fantastic view

I was at the topping off ceremony of the latest project of Luxure Properties and Development Corp., the LuxureVille at the invitation of my friend Ms. Fe Agudo, its president and also the COO of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. a couple of days ago.

Anyway, I must have missed out on the fine print of the invite, so I had no inkling that it was going to be a virtual triathlon too. We walked up 10 floors, and I thank my thrice-weekly badminton and gym-at-home that I came out of the experience whistling a happy tune and still smiling at Fe.

The eminent business tycoon who’s into various business concerns including real estate development aside from automobiles (Hyundai, Volvo, Nissan) Richard Lee was there too and proudly showed off the project’s extraordinary points.

First, the Luxureville’s convenient location — mere minutes away from the Makati Business District, the Ortigas Center, Manila Bay area, and the industrial parks of Cavite and Laguna and access to major roads, highways and gateways such as the international and domestic airports and Manila harbor. Traffic should not be a problem because the location provides for not one but three entry/exit routes.

We checked out the plans for this prestigious housing project.  The site development plan is awesome.  The developers seem to put a lot of premium on landscape architecture and really went all out to provide a lush environment for the prospective dwellers.

LuxureVille is located at Multinational Village. The 1.25-hectare property will be fully developed into seven medium-rise buildings, nine-to 11-story high. All the standard amenities are there — Clubhouse where one can book private functions, enjoy the aviary, enjoy spa/sauna services, and use the gym, a vanity-edged swimming pool, garden lobby, sky garden which is another spacious venue for big gatherings, jogging path, even a bird bath. But it is the other finer points that the developers are keen about sharing-the landscaped gardens, the tropical milieu, the trellises of foliage, meandering landscaped jogging paths, pocket gardens with seats that provide tranquil moments, the grand gateway that welcomes the homeowner to a refreshing new world after his daily bout in the asphalt jungle is done at the end of a grueling day.

I’m not one to sweat the small stuff, so I pointed these out first.  But on a more sober and pragmatic note, I had to check out the project’s consultants as well. LuxureVille’s architectural consultant is Arch. Angeline T. Chua Chiaco, who has a masters in Urban & Regional Planning and is Executive Director of the Commission on Professional Practice Board Examiner, PRC.  Interior Design is handled by Arch. Alice Erfe, interior design consultant of Rockwell Land, Ayala Hotels, Inc., Robinson Land and Filinvest, while Arch. Mary Espina who has a masters degree in Landscape Architecture from Massachusetts (she was also adjudged Most Outstanding Professional for Landscape Architecture for 2003) is in charge of landscape.  With such a rich pool of talents behind this project, one can appreciate the high degree of professionalism that goes into this prestigious project.

Mabuhay!!!  Be proud to be a Filipino.

For comments: (e-mail) [email protected]