Smuggling

The government’s lackluster efforts to combat smuggling have dragged down growth in the agricultural sector, which is already facing other challenges including El Niño and weak infrastructure.

By Prinz Magtulis and Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star), Sep. 4, 2015 MANILA, Philippines – The government is losing about P3 billion to P5 billion a year from smuggling using balikbayan boxes, although the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has only made 38 such seizures over the past six years, valued at P12.3 million.

Carrots, yes; potatoes, no MANILA – Rice tops the list of farm products smuggled into the Philippines, according to a state-backed study released today. According to a report by Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the amount of smuggled agriculture products hit $10 billion in the period 1986-2008.

Read Part 1 here MANILA, Philippines – Smuggling of agricultural commodities has become widespread in recent decades because some policies and procedures in the country’s importation system have become antiquated.

(First of three parts) MANILA, Philippines – In the 1980s, smuggling of agricultural commodities had evolved into a big-time illegal trade, with the value of such products estimated at $6 billion a year.

MANILA, Philippines—“Illicit funds,” estimated at $410.5 billion, flowed into and out of the Philippines between 1960 and 2011, a significant portion of which occurred through smuggling, said a report published Tuesday by a Washington-based research and advocacy group.

DESPITE CLAIMS to the contrary, the Philippines’ fiscal space is narrow and will continue to tighten unless steady, sustainable sources of revenues are generated. For a country that is on a catch-up mode, the Philippines has large and increasing public expenditure needs for education, health, public infrastructure and military pension.

THE GOVERNMENT will soon allow importation of “sensitive” commodities prone to smuggling only through select ports, the Department of Finance (DoF) said in a statement yesterday.

Miners roll out sacks of boulders out of a tunnel, after a 24-hour shift at one of the hundreds of small mines on the rugged slopes of Mount Diwata in southern Philippines.

Manila, Philippines – Majority of business executives are dissatisfied with the government’s efforts to fight smuggling even as they found most government agencies to have shown satisfactory performance in the second year of President Aquino’s administration, according to a survey conducted by the Makati Business Club (MBC).

NINE government agencies, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Tourism (DOT), received record-high satisfaction ratings from top business executives. But they gave the administration’s anti-smuggling campaign a failing grade.

MANILA, Philippines – When President Aquino was elected into office, the nation wrapped itself in euphoria. Filipinos were filled with hope as Aquino promised that he would finally be that leader the country needed.

MANILA, Philippines – The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) has urged government to include the anti-smuggling bill in Malacañang’s list of priority measures not only to help increase tax collection but also to protect domestic manufacturers.

MANILA, Philippines – The private sector has intensified its campaign against smuggling as onion farmers and labor unions have joined forces with the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) and the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG).