November 15th, 2021
I’ve always advocated for a strong Coast Guard to complement customs enforcement. That was one of the reasons why we also approved a measure providing for the modernization of the Philippine Coast Guard. The moment smuggled goods penetrate our waters, there’s very little we can in the ports where we do not have enforcement.
Of course, strong and random port inspections among private ports will also be critical. But we can only watch out for so much. The key really is to make sure our territorial waters are guarded.
We can also identify hotspots. The Department of Finance has a mechanism where they identify places where illicit tobacco retails the most frequently. The private port servicing such markets cannot be so far. Of course, you also have to warehouse these, so surveillance is also critical. If we can institutionalize the BOC Strike Team, all the better.