A ploy to lick smugglers

Lakas-Kampi’s 109 congressmen have agreed to split up three ways. One set of about 30 will form the opposition, led by Reps. Edcel Lagman and Gloria Arroyo. A second group of 40-plus, headed by Rudy Antonino and Tony Alvarez, will align with President Noynoy Aquino’s admin. The third cluster, with Neptali Gonzales Jr. and Rolando Andaya Jr., will rejoin Aquino’s Liberal Party.

The groups will remain in touch, to reunite on such interests as pork barrel and protecting Arroyo from payback. That’s why there are parallel shepherds: Ronnie Puno for the 70 or so Kampi; and Danny Suarez, Martin Romualdez and Dato Arroyo for the roughly 30 Lakas.

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For prosecutors to review an indictment that’s already being tried in court is not usual. It’s not illegal either. Lawyer-Senators Joker Arroyo and Ed Angara know it. So they stand on shaky legal ground twitting President Noynoy Aquino’s order to revisit the coup d’etat rap against jailed Sen. Antonio Trillanes. The directive can’t be taken as meddling in the Judiciary. For, the study is to be done by the justice department, which is under the Executive. Still, the trial court will have the last say, in case P-Noy’s men decide to withdraw charges.

This is not to prejudge Trillanes. But Arroyo and Angara are the least apt to carp about dropping a case midway. They’re inconsistent. They kept mum when their previous admin retracted the case of a Chinese drug lord, despite the prosecutor’s protest since trial was already in the fifth month. Along with Miriam Santiago, they can’t accuse P-Noy of prying in Senate affairs either. If P-Noy’s real aim is to release Trillanes long enough to vote for his (P-Noy’s) party’s aspirant for Senate President, it’s fair game. I bet you, if Trillanes happens to be for Arroyo, Angara and Santiago’s candidate, they’d be shouting to let him out to vote since he hasn’t been convicted yet.

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The Economist once suggested that it is the duty of all citizens to avoid (not evade) taxes. That’s so the government, learning from them, can plug loopholes to perfect the tax system. Another way of putting it: government has the duty to note what tax cheats are so afraid of, and employ it on them. That’s what the Federation of Philippine Industries had in mind in advising Customs to apply “compulsory acquisition” on technical smugglers.

Technical smuggling is the most prevalent form of tax evasion in the ports. Importers undervalue their cargo by as much as 80 percent, in order to have duties computed only on the 20 percent. From there they proceed to cheat on taxes, paying 12-percent VAT only on the declared value. Crooked revenue officers abet the false avowals. Government loses twice over.

“Compulsory acquisition” is Section 2317 of the Tariff and Customs Code. Under it Customs forcibly may buy the goods at the value declared by the importer, for resale at a profit. If the importer happens to have undervalued the cargo, then he loses buckets of money while Customs makes a pile at the auction. Repeated compulsory acquisition will scare technical smugglers into honesty, says the FPI.

If compulsory acquisition is so good, how come Customs doesn’t do it? The FPI recalls that when it first broached the idea to then-Customs head Jorge Jereos, the bureau had no funds for it. Later two banks announced that they would lend P558 million in seed money. Instantly the value of imports shot up. Apparently importers began telling the truth, or close to it, lest their goods be bought at extremely low prices. Then-finance secretary Juanita Amatong hesitated, however, when told that the Customs Charter disallows borrowing.

Amatong’s successor Gary Teves got a positive legal opinion on the loan, since initial compulsory acquisitions would be a special project. He directed his Customs chief Napoleon Morales to implement it. After a long delay, he told the FPI that the bureau had no warehouse for purchased goods. FPI members volunteered the free use of their bodegas, but Morales allegedly ignored them. Had the bureau acquired and resold 93,000 tons of undervalued steel imported in January to May, it would have raised P3 billion in extra revenues. But it blew its chance.

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Readers continue to react to weathermen’s fumbled forecast of Typhoon Basyang:

Ric M. Obsines: “Plain logic dictates that PAGASA hook up with accurate international forecasters instead of spending P180 million on its own equipment. But then, there’s no kickback in doing that.”

Vicente Emmanuel Paterno: “For a century now Filipinos have had barometers to foretell bad weather. It was standard equipment in ships and small craft up to decades ago. When the barometric pressure falls, it’s a sure sign to not sail or fish. Barometers are cheap and reliable. Even when weathermen goof, your barometer will tell if a storm is headed your way.”

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 “They develop the land but stunt the growth of people. They call it progress.” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ

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