Customs Commissioner Resigns

PHILIPPINES - In Brief 23 Apr 2015 by Romeo Bernardo

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Should we be worried that Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla has resigned? After all, Mr. Sevilla, who was appointed in late 2013, is credited with the impressive 21% growth in import duty collections last year that helped to raise the overall tax effort in 2014 by another 0.3% of GDP. Were it not for the drop in oil prices, this performance would have been sustained through 1Q15 based on the reported 24% growth in revenues from non-oil imports. With his immediate superior, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, tracing the agency's transformation to Mr. Sevilla’s efforts to curb smuggling and eradicate corruption, can the reforms continue with a change in leadership? The word is they will. And this confidence rests critically on the reputation of the man who I learned from inside sources has been appointed to take over the job, Mr. Bert Lina. Mr. Lina served briefly as customs chief back in 2005 when Secretary Purisima was Finance Secretary under then President Gloria Arroyo*. Under his watch, government’s Run After The Smugglers (RATS) program was launched, where cases against suspected smugglers are brought to court. RATS remains an important pillar of anti-smuggling efforts today. The more optimistic view we have heard told is that given his well-grounded, constructive and hands-on management style that comes from experience operating a private air freight company, Mr. Lina is well-placed to address a common complaint these days among importers, i.e., of delays in clearing shipments due to increased complexity of documentary requirements. Some are also voicing the hope that he can rebuild lost morale and trust among officials and employees of the Bureau of Custom...