Friday, April 25, 2008 Editorials: Going after smugglers
ONE of the most time-consuming and energy-debasing preoccupation for law enforcers is containing tax evasion and reining in tax evaders before government could suffer enormous tax losses.
There is currently, for example, smuggling of foreign goods, particularly high value luxury vehicles, where government could have collected enormous amounts of customs duties and motor vehicle registration fees.
This is one form of tax evasion as legitimate entry procedures of imported goods, with the connivance of public officials, are avoided.
Local newspapers in the past few days have been replete with reports about cars and high value vehicles being brought into the country “without the knowledge” of the Bureau of Customs.
The fact that many of the vehicles were found already possessing documents showing they were legally brought in indicates interagency “cooperation.”
Top smugglers
Yesterday, reports say that the government’s anti-smuggling group has identified six top smugglers reportedly based in Cebu.
There may have been other names profiting from smuggling in other ports of the country but they have not yet done enough to gain listing in the smugglers roll of “honor.”
Those who are in the government’s list have reportedly “invested heavily in the illegal trade and are using dummies and fictitious names as consignees to avoid detection and prosecutions.”
The Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) said that many cars that were reported to have been registered in Manila had come from Cebu.
Thus, PASG deduced that a vehicle smuggling syndicate exists in Central Visayas.
PASG’s task
Given such knowledge, PASG should be asked what it is going to do about it, since it is its task of going against smugglers.
Why hasn’t it gone after the smugglers long before their operation have become virulent and economically destructive?
How many millions of pesos in customs duties and other taxes have been lost by the government because of the apparent failure of the PASG to contain the nefarious activities of the smugglers?
Let it not be said that the national leadership has been remiss in its responsibility to contain all forms of tax evasions in this republic.
