Article by Vernon B. Sarne: Customized

**ghosthunter** · February 27th, 2008 07:41 PM

stolen from:

http://www.topgear.com.ph/board/index.php?topic=1355.0

------------------------------------------------

[SIZE="5"]Customized[/SIZE]
HARDTOP by Vernon B. Sarne

CALL it serendipitous or divine, but I found myself washing down chicharon with beer across the table from a Bureau of Customs fellow on the eve of the People Power anniversary. I hadn’t met the man before, the same way that he didn’t have a clue about who I was. The two of us were just part of a group that was trying to drink away the boredom of an uneventful Sunday evening. We had common friends, in other words, and even more common sentiments in life.

As drinking sessions with strangers go, we started by engaging each other in a lot of small talk. I’d play a Rick Astley song and the others would wistfully share what it reminded them of. Mostly high school stuff, because I suppose you have no business listening to ‘It Would Take A Strong, Strong Man’ beyond high school. The BOC guy would request some Motown music every now and then, which actually surprised me. I always kind of thought that people who worked at the bureau only listened to the Spice Girls.

When new acquaintances get more comfortable and tire of all the cheesiness of adolescent life, they move on to more serious subjects—like work. And that’s exactly what we did. And because nobody wants to hear about what journalists do—I mean, what’s so exciting about snooping around and filing your story?—we basically spent the entire evening with the BOC staffer talking and me asking probing questions.

Obviously, my interest lied chiefly in the automotive section of the bureau. It’s the section in charge of examining the value of all motor vehicles coming into the country and then appraising how much import duties should be levied upon them.

“The automotive section only has five people but is easily the biggest revenue generator for the bureau,” our BOC guy said. “Food, electronics, apparel and others are nothing compared to cars and auto parts.”

I then asked what I now realize was a stupid question, like asking if the Pope is Catholic: So is there really rampant corruption in the bureau? After probably wondering what drug I was on, he emphatically said yes...of course...definitely...hello, are you serious?

“Yes, I am, as a matter of fact,” I told him. “Please enlighten me: How do BOC personnel make kickbacks from imported vehicles?”

With all the patience a parent has for a toddler, he broke it all down for me.
“As a general rule of thumb,” he said, “the multinational car companies with manufacturing operations here pay the correct duties. Everything is above-board. Usually, it’s the importers of European luxury cars who don’t play by the rules.”

“You mean the gray market?” I asked.

“Not just the gray market but even those legitimate authorized importers of European brands,” he countered. He then enumerated to me the names of these companies, not realizing that I regularly dealt with these firms as part of my job as a motoring writer. The sad thing is, even those companies I actually look up to in terms of professionalism are also apparently willing accomplices in this web of corruption.

“Okay, so what exactly goes on during the dirty deal?” I pried.

“Let’s say a luxury German SUV comes in,” he commenced. “Its actual market value, for instance, is P4 million, according to the Kelley Blue Book, the motor vehicle valuation guide that we use. If we’ll do it the right way, its import duty should be P1.2 million, or 30 percent of the actual market value. That’s the amount the importer should really pay us. Now to make more money, the easiest thing for the importer to do is to pay lower duties. They can’t make more money by pricing the vehicle higher, because really, who’s going to buy it? So the importer then undervalues the vehicle, with the knowing cooperation of BOC personnel, of course.”

“Interesting,” I quipped while opening a third bottle of beer. “Go on.”

“The importer then dictates his preferred value for the imported vehicle,” my new BOC friend resumed. “If he says he wants the value to be just P1 million, then the import duty that he’ll pay us will just be P300,000.”

“Impressive,” I marveled. “But again, how do you make your kickbacks?”

“Notice that the importer is able to save P900,000 in import duty,” he calmly explained. “He will now have to pay us 30 percent of that savings. So in the end, he saves P630,000 in taxes, while we pocket P270,000. That’s just for one vehicle.”

“And where does the P270,000 go from there?” I inquired with my eyes now much wider than when we started our conversation.

“It’s split four ways,” he replied matter-of-factly. “It goes to four individuals: the examiner, the principal examiner, the principal appraiser and the collector. The higher-ups are taken care of by the collector.”

Dear Lord. No wonder we’re this messed up. When I asked him if he was entirely comfortable working in a venomous pit like the one he had just described, his face saddened—like that of somebody who had just sold his soul for the world.

“You know what?” he shot back. “I was once very idealistic when I first joined the bureau. Probably more idealistic than most of you are. But the whole system will eat you up. Refusing half a million pesos in kickbacks is easier said than done, believe me. And we know we are all just pawns here. When government wants to look good in public, the Ombudsman will run after the rank-and-file employees, like me. But these same employees have no choice. How can you say no if the ones brokering the deal are some of the most powerful people in the land? Of course, you can say no, but there goes your job, too. What do we do? We have families to feed. You probably don’t know this, but many of us in the bureau don’t even get the minimum salary.”

“Let’s say a righteous BOC commissioner comes along and cleans up the bureau,” I hypothesized. “He then implores everyone to be honest and then offers P50,000 a month in salary to each one. Will that solve things?”

“First off,” he said, “if a person is righteous, he probably wouldn’t stand a chance of getting appointed BOC commissioner. Secondly, people there make P50,000 in kickbacks in a week, so I doubt you will find many personnel who would be sympathetic to your idea.”

“But wouldn’t you sacrifice a bit in exchange for a better, moral Philippines?” I challenged.

His prolonged silence told me everything I needed to know about the future of this country.

**theveed** · February 27th, 2008 07:50 PM

While the fact that smuggling is well known, having this "breakdown" of sharing is an eye-opener...

**LexTer** · February 27th, 2008 09:44 PM

dati plano namin mag padating european cars. na turn off kami nung makausap mga taga customs. isa sila sa dahilan kaya umuurong mga investors dito satin. tsk tsk tsk.

**uls** · February 27th, 2008 10:24 PM

kaya natatawa nalang ako sa mga tao who are calling for GMA to resign...

Sobra idealistic... so naive...

They have no idea how serious money is being made out there.

They have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.

Do they think they can change the status quo?

If GMA resigns or gets forced out, do they think the replacement can sterilize the system?

NO WAY.

The corruptors are NOT in govt!

There are people behind the scenes... they have prospered thru any admistration...

They put presidents in place...

Presidents come and go... Marcos, Cory, Ramos, Erap, GMA...

The people behind the scenes will always be there...

Change of adminstration wont change the status quo.

**Galactus** · February 28th, 2008 07:27 AM

There's actually nothing funny about asking an evil and corrupt President to resign.

What would you have us do? Just sit back and watch forlornly while she and her crew mess with our tax money, and enrich themselves in office? Our collective apathy will kill us, and I've always adored people who take to the streets, fighting for a cause they believe in, because they set the stage for the dawning of a new hope. This isn't hopeless idealism. Democracy was born that way, and if we wish to enjoy it, we have to stay vigilant.

As Edmund Burke once said, (and as I've always repeated here), the best way for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.

**uls** · February 28th, 2008 10:31 AM

sorry if i offended anyone...

Capitalists have 1 goal --- to profit

Some capitalists play by the rules, others dont.

Taxes and regulations are a pain...

Some pay taxes, some dont want to.

The govt is standing in their way... standing in the way of their profits.

So it's either they go around the govt (tax evasion, smuggling) or bribe their way thru (like the article above)

That's how things work here (and in many places around the world)

That's the status quo.

Romulo Neri got it right when he said something about how things work in this country...

U cant change the way things are done and the way money is made by just changing presidents...

it's too deep-rooted.

it has become culture.

it will take a whole generation to change things.

Let's just hope the younger generation of pinoys wont be easily corrupted by the system...

But i doubt it.

Kids these days are more materialistic that previous generations.

They will even be easier to corrupt.

**outmap** · February 28th, 2008 10:40 AM

So we should just roll over and play dead?

**mazdamazda** · February 28th, 2008 10:55 AM

Originally Posted by uls

kaya natatawa nalang ako sa mga tao who are calling for GMA to resign...

Sobra idealistic... so naive...

They have no idea how serious money is being made out there.

They have no idea what goes on behind the scenes.

Do they think they can change the status quo?

If GMA resigns or gets forced out, do they think the replacement can sterilize the system?

NO WAY.

The corruptors are NOT in govt!

There are people behind the scenes... they have prospered thru any admistration...

They put presidents in place...

Presidents come and go... Marcos, Cory, Ramos, Erap, GMA...

The people behind the scenes will always be there...

Change of adminstration wont change the status quo.

Bullseye...

Most people have this idealism that if they get rid of the "most corrupt" government crook all else will follow. What a waste of time & money...

Originally Posted by Galactus

There's actually nothing funny about asking an evil and corrupt President to resign.

I'll ask her to resign if businesses, professionals and everyone else pay up first the 150-300 billion pesos lost every year due to misdeclared incomes, unremitted VAT, unpaid custom duties, etc.

If the allegations regarding the ZTE contract is true and substantiated (notice that there's no hard evidence except for a few verbal testimonies)... this still pales in comparison to the lost revenue due to unpaid taxes and such.

**uls** · February 28th, 2008 10:59 AM

Roll over and play dead?

Nope.

Instead of trying to change the system from the outside (rallies, rallies made to look like prayer meetings, people power complete with stage and live bands etc.)

idealistic people should go inside the system and change it from there...

Run for office, get elected.

Like that catholic priest did in Pampanga. He became governor.

**uls** · February 28th, 2008 01:42 PM

And another thing...

Let's say the anti-GMA crowd succeeds.

Then a power vacuum is created.

Who is gonna fill that vacuum?

Let's say di nasunod ang constitution... hindi si Noli ang maupo...

Then who? Erap?

Erap becomes president again?

So Erap has to create a new functioning govt.

He has to appoint new cabinet secretaries and people to fill up vacant positions that resulted from the power vacuum...

Guess who he will appoint --- his family, friends, allies, supporters. They will be given positions where there's great opportunity to make money.

Kahit sabihin natin hindi si Erap ang maupo... kahit sino... Lacson, Legarda, Binay, Cory, Ramos, Sharon Cuneta, Kris Aquino, Boy Abunda... kahit sino...

He or she is gonna do the same thing --- put family, friends, allies, supporters in places where they can make money.

Then there will be reports of corruption again, and we will have these rallies all over again.

----------------

And whoever is in power, the corruptors will go on with their lives and grow richer still... coz they know nothing changes even when presidents change... they can still go around or bribe their way thru anything that stands in their way...