DOF's budget presentation marred by smuggling concerns, unfilled posts

MANILA - The Department of Finance’s presentation of its proposed P32.4 billion for next year was able to hurdle the Senate Finance Committee Monday, but not without many prying questions from senators.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno led the DOF and its attached agencies in presenting their proposed budget next year, which includes reforming the system and attracting more employees with a better pay grade.

“This comprehensive budget underscores DOF’s steadfast commitment to fiscal integrity, sustainable economic growth and equitable development,” Diokno said.

His presentation, which included the agency’s strings of accomplishments, however, failed to impress Senator Raffy Tulfo who scored in the Bureau of Customs’ failure to arrest the reported “pattern” of unscrupulous traders to take advantage of the government.

These tactics include using the traders’ household helpers, drivers and even the dead ones in their documents.

Unfortunately, if illegal shipments are intercepted, the BOC cannot easily file a case against to the suspects because they could not find the supposed trader’s address.

Tulfo also openly displayed his disappointment to the BOC, because 76 of the 159 agricultural smuggling cases filed since 2016 were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

"We should deter by example...Someone should have been jailed had the Bureau of Customs done its job... let's be serious with our jobs at the Bureau of Customs," Tulfo said.

Customs Deputy Commissioner JuvyMax Uy, who is less than a year in his office, vowed anti-smuggler good results by next year.

"And instead of only requiring importers to present a one year income tax return documents, traders should be asked to produce a 5-year ITR paper, bank records, and other financial documents to prove that they are really legitimate businessmen," Tulfo said.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, on the other hand, opted to quiz the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the BOC regarding the two agencies’ decades-long unfilled positions.

In Gatchalian’s data, the two agencies represent a combined 11,745 unfilled positions for year 2022, with 2,761 coming from BOC and 7,724 from BIR.

“It is a huge amount considering the BOC and the BIR are the revenue collecting agencies and I assume that the more people they have the more efficient they will become and the more taxes they would collect,” Gatchalian pointed out.

BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui, Jr., said that while they keep on actively promoting their vacancies, there are no takers due to a low pay rate.

A lawyer’s entry level in the BIRm according to Lumagui, is only around P27,000, as against the around P50,000 in other government agencies.

“I think it’s just proper to make it a par within government because it’s BIR that’s collecting and paying the salaries of everyone in government,” Gatchalian said.

“We really need to support, we need support for the adjustments of the salaries because it will help a lot in attracting talents especially for accountants and lawyers. And also as far as improving the plantilla items as well. Because currently we have a lot of divisions or service that should be created but again due to some limitations we're not able to create certain services or divisions so but ah this will greatly help a lot if we have increase in salaries because it will be hopefully competitive with the private and most especially with other govt agencies as well,” Lumagui said.

Lumagui asked lawmakers to come up with a law that would improve the salary grade of their employees.

BOC acting Deputy Commissioner Michael Fermin also assured that their agency is addressing their unfilled positions problem.

“We have 2,761 unfilled positions, we have already published positions totaling of 1,547 that is for 2022 publication with a total of 940 and another 607 this year,” he said.

Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito meantime took the opportunity to question the Bureau of Customs’ failure to arrest and eventually convict a bigtime smuggler, considering that the “Anti-Smuggling Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016,” has been in existence for seven years.

BOC officials promised concrete results.