Press Release

24 February 2023

If the Bureau of Customs can find onions in an air passenger’s bag, then there is no reason why it can’t detect smuggled sugar-carrying ships as big as malls, House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said.

But if it is still having a hard time curbing smuggling, the BOC should expand and maximize the use of tracking technology to follow monitored cargoes, Recto said.

“In this age of ‘AirTag’, it will be hard for cargoes to vanish in thin air,” he said, referring to the Apple-made tracking device that can geolocate items to which it has been attached.

“Yung pitaka nga, nahahanap ng AirTag, a shipping container as big as a house pa kaya?” he said.

At present, the Customs bureau employs an Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo or e-TRACC System in which a container is armed with a GPS tracker to monitor its movement from ship discharge to its intended destination.

The objective is to prevent the container’s diversion during transit to other customs territories and facilities. 

“Kasi kung, halimbawa, ang deklarasyon ay gagamitin lang ang laman nito sa loob ng isang free port, kaya walang buwis, hindi pwedeng ilabas ‘yan. Otherwise, smuggling na,” Recto said.

He said Customs should study what tracking technologies can be used to monitor containers laden with agriculture produce from “port of origin to eventual destination here.” 

“At kung kailangan naka-synch ‘yan sa cellphone ng mga matataas na opisyales ng Department of Agriculture, mas mabuti,” he said.

“Kung papabili ka ng rice meal sa GrabFood o Food Panda, nasusundan mo takbo ng courier sa phone, ito pa kayang barko na may kargang 50,000 sako na bigas,” Recto said.

The idea is to make technology ahead of the smuggling curve, he said.

Philippine imports of agricultural and petroleum products from 2016 to 2021 have been underreported by P280 billion.

“The benefit of an expanded e-TRACC clearly outweighs the cost of doing it,” he said.