Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — During a hearing on Thursday (September 3) senators tackled the issue of the Bureau of Customs’s (BoC) handling of balikbayan boxes, and the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA). Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina and officials from different sectors joined the proceedings.
Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairperson of the Ways and Means Committee presided over the hearing. He was joined by Sens. Cynthia Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Grace Poe.
Poe asked Lina how much money the Bureau of Customs BoC has lost on balikbayan boxes that have not been inspected. The commissioner said that the figure was between P3 billion to P5 billion.
However, Poe reminded the BoC not to forget the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Villar noted that the group remits about $47 billion each year.
Last month, the BoC triggered an uproar among OFW groups after it announced plans to randomly inspect balikbayan boxes. After President Benigno Aquino III’s directive not to do so, the bureau switched to mandatory X-ray examinations of containers.
Lina said that the BoC has held a dry run, and added that the X-ray machine was found capable of handling the workload. He said it takes 15 to 20 minutes to scan a container and that the BoC receives about 40 containers in one day.
He added that the BoC does not have the authority to add taxes to the balikbayan boxes. Currently, the tax limit is P10,000 on the boxes.
For their part, PhilPost officials proposed a raise on the tax ceiling of items sent through them. An official said that the country is losing money in terms of the way it is being administered.
The hearing also discussed the CMTA bill, which will help ease and simplify the process of importing and exporting. It will also increase the limit of tax-free and duty-free items from OFWs from P10,000 to P150,000.
CNN Philippines’ Anna Estanislao contributed to this report.
