X-ray vision at the Customs

The new Bureau of Customs chief, Angelito Alvarez, is fortunate that upon his assumption, the bureau has already begun employing an X-ray Inspection Project (XIP), a unit that has made a big contribution to the attainment of an astounding P7.34 billion surplus in the agency’s collection for the first half of the year. The unit will help him achieve his first orders from President Aquino which are, “to meet revenue goals work in close coordination with the Bureau of Internal Revenue to prevent tax leakages, and identify smugglers.”

Perhaps not known to those who are so quick to cast aspersions, the XIP plays an integral part in ensuring increased revenue collection for the government apart from its equally critical role in trade facilitation and counter terrorism. From my stand, the contributions of the XIP in these areas of concern are priceless.

Prior to the establishment of the XIP in 2007, garments, ceramic tiles, automobiles, agricultural products, electronics and appliances were being smuggled with impunity into the local market, wiping out the earnings and livelihood of legitimate Filipino traders and farmers. These acts of economic sabotage have far-reaching consequences that helped perpetuate the impoverished condition of many of our countrymen, down to the grass roots.

According to published reports, smuggling has displaced hundreds of thousands of workers in the agriculture and manufacturing industries. This dastardly practice also endangers the health and welfare of consumers, since smuggled goods do not undergo necessary quality screening or safety testing. Certainly, most of us remember Yuletides past when countless homes and business establishments were razed by fire, resulting in the senseless loss of life and millions of property, due to the proliferation of cheap “Christmas lights” that were overtly imported into the country.

Thanks to the sophisticated XIP machines, Customs inspectors are afforded a convenient window to view the contents of shipping containers in their entirety, detect contrabands, and seize illegal imports.

This high-tech form of inspection can be accomplished in ten minutes, what would usually take up to 48 hours of manual scrutiny. As such, the XIP teams assigned to the various ports across the country can examine more containers, and verify the nature and quantity of both inbound and outbound shipments. This technology has time and again enabled the agency to block the entry of dangerous and anti-social cargo such as explosives, toxic chemicals, guns and illegal drugs.

BoC currently has a total of 30 NUCTECH electron linear accelerator scanners. These x-ray machines offer high performance without producing any harmful radiation. Two of the machines used by the XIP are mobile or re-locatable so they can be deployed strategically wherever there is a need for additional x-ray scanning due to an increase in container traffic.

Unscrupulous traders are always on the lookout for sub-ports and out-ports that are vulnerable since these docks do not utilize x-ray scanning. In assigning the x-ray scanning units in strategic areas, the XIP facilities effectively discourage smugglers from port shopping across the archipelago.

Meanwhile, there is still a pressing need for more machines in order to fortify BoC’s anti-smuggling efforts and assist the bureau in enforcing the provisions of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.

Commissioner Alvarez can congratulate the officials and staff of the XIP for job well done, and perhaps cause the order of more x-ray units.

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On another front, every Filipino household, particularly those residing overseas, should have a copy of Footnotes to History, a little handbook that’s an “easy read,” or, as a historian put it, a “short cut” to learning Philippine history.

The handbook is written by Renato Pedron. Its American edition is now available in hard copy and electronic form in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Asia and the Pacific, announced America’s Universal Publication.

Director Emelita V. Almosara of the National Historical Commission told me Footnotes is now available in the US, through www.amazon.com and www.universal_publisher.com in hardcopy or electronically. It provides a significant number of historical information which typical American and other Philippine school history books – old and new – do not address.

Pedron writes in his book synopsis that Footnotes is “a departure from the usual history textbooks regarded by many as largely distant and formidable, written by academics containing dogmas and definitive treatises. It is a ‘history in a hurry’ that notes interesting ins and outs about Filipinos and the Philippines that everyone wondered about but were never answered.”

A book reviewer wrote: “The author accomplished what he ought to do, that is, provide a ready, easy background historical resource for our overseas Filipino workers about Filipinoness; a good historical narrative and at times quite satisfying since he injects nationalistic commentary and understanding of the events in our history and not falling into the usual self-censorship brought about by a mis-educated Filipino mind. I find the book ‘a good one to taste’ – for a start to learn about our history, to share, keep and give to friends and relatives; a truly handy primer, firstly for our own selves as Filipinos and our descendants, and for informing our foreign hosts and friends in foreign lands.”

The reviewer continues: “We Filipinos need this kind of handbook in helping discover, know and understand ourselves from our past and in the struggle to revive our nationalism and thus regain our homeland from our traitorous fellowmen and their foreign partners/sponsors.”

My email:dominimt2000yahoo.com