Palace Rules Out Tariff Hikes Without Congress Approval
MANILA: The Bureau of Customs cannot unilaterally increase tariffs without the advise and consent of Congress, the Malacañang has said.
“I did see that report and we also want to know more about it,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte was quoted as saying by The Standard of reports that the BoC will increase tariffs on balikbayan boxes this Christmas season.
“But for me, tariffs cannot be raised without the approval either via treaty or by Congress,” Valte said. “This cannot be if Congress did not approve this. Nonetheless, we have already asked the Department of Finance,” Valte reportedly said.
Support groups for migrant workers earlier welcomed an apology by Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina at a Senate hearing for the opening of balikbayan boxes for flimsy reasons, said the news portal.
He reportedly said the BoC’s campaign was only aimed at unscrupulous individuals and syndicates that try to take advantage of the lax procedures for containers that bring in balikbayan boxes to smuggle their own contraband.
Lina is owner and chairman of the board of about 18 freight forwarding and affiliated companies involved in shipping, warehousing and customs brokerage, which critics said is a “conflict of interest” because he is already the Customs commissioner, the report pointed out.
Lina reportedly passed on his companies to his wife and children to avoid the “conflict of interest.”
But another irritant emerged between the bureau and the OFW sector—the BoC’s doubling of shipping container taxes, which will effectively translate into a pass-on cost of P100 per box initially, and P250 by December, for the OFWs.
“The cat is out of the bag. The additional charge that the Bureau of Customs has imposed on a container of balikbayan boxes is now out in the open,” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto reportedly said.
The two-step increase between now and Christmas, when thousands of boxes are sent home by OFWs, will translate into an additional cost to the workers of P100 initially, and another P150 for a total of P250, Recto was quoted as saying.
“It has been confirmed that the amount of duties and taxes on a shipping container has been increased from P80,000 to P120,000,” Recto added
Because the increase will eventually be shouldered by OFWs who send the boxes, the pass-on cost is PhP100 per box.
This is based on a usual load of 400 balikbayan boxes per 40-foot container, Recto reportedly explained.
It has also been confirmed at the hearing, added Recto, that Customs plans to further raise the duties and taxes on a container of balikbayan boxes to PhP180,000 this October.
Again, this will be passed on to senders of these boxes. If this second round of increases will materialize, the additional charge per box will be PhP150, he added.
“In short, the two increases will force OFWs to pay an additional P250 per box. Whoever will send a balikbayan box this Christmas, in all likelihood that will be hit by the additional charges.”
This information was confirmed by the freight forwarders present at the Senate hearing, Recto was quoted s saying by The Standard.