‘FMP’ Field Unit holds truck with 30,000 liter of ‘smuggled’ diesel

THE days of pilfered and smuggled petroleum products being spirited out of customs premises to end up being sold in unregistered gasoline stations may soon be a thing of the past after a tanker truck loaded with 30,000 liters of ‘unmarked’ diesel was flagged down and confiscated by government agents in Mariveles, Bataan last May 21, 2021. The truck driver and his helper were also arrested.

Port of Limay acting district collector, William Balayo, in a report to Bureau of Customs commissioner, Rey Leonardo Guerrero, said combined elements from the BOC and the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s Field Inspection Unit (FIU) accosted the tanker (plate number not available) past 11:00 pm in Bgy. Batangas II, Mariveles for “spot inspection” of passing tanker trucks in the area.

When questioned, driver ‘Victor Legaspi’ and his helper, ‘Clinton Legaspi,’ were unable to produce the required ‘withdrawal certificate’ or other proofs of payment of excise and valued added tax.

“Upon testing by the FIU, it was found out that the petroleum products were completely unmarked indicating that no legal taxes were paid,” Balayo added.

The field testing of all petroleum products in the country down to the level of gasoline stations is now being implemented by the BOC and the BIR under the DOF-BOC-BIR Joint Circular 001-2021 as part of the government’s ‘Fuel Marking Program’ (FMP).

The FMP is part of the bigger tax reform program of the national government under RA 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (Train), otherwise known as the ‘TRAIN Law.’

The program not only seeks to collect taxes and duties due to the government but also, curb the rampant smuggling of petroleum products.

Since its implementation in September 2019 up to May 13 this year, the government has so far collected P229.5 billion in additional revenues.

Data from the Department of Finance showed the government has also so far marked 23.59 billion liters as of May 13, 2021.

On the BOC side, overseeing the program’s implementation is Atty. Teddy Raval, Deputy Commissioner, Enforcement Group.

Balayo said the two suspects have already been turned over to the custody of the Mariveles Police Office for violation of the TRAIN Law and the National Internal Revenue Code.

The loaded tanker truck, on the other hand, is now under the custody of the Port of Limay.

‘PTFC to address high cost of doing business’

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs is confident that the perennial woes of importers and traders over the high cost of doing business would be finally addressed immediately with the creation of the ‘Philippine Trade Facilitation Committee’ (PTFC) created by Pres Duterte thru the issuance of Executive Order 136 last May 18, 2021.

Atty. Vincent Maronilla, BOC spokesperson, said the BOC would be joining the new committee as vice chairperson while also acting as its Secretariat that would provide administrative and technical support to the committee consisting presently of 50 government agencies.

The creation of the PTFC is among the country’s commitments after joining the World Trade Organization in 1995.

“The committee will study, propose, and coordinate the position, activities, or actions of the Philippine government on the implementation of the WTO-TFA (Trade Facilitation Agreement) and other trade facilitation commitments,” Maronilla told Pinoy Exposé.

Thru the committee, Maronilla said the BOC also hopes to finally addressed the stakeholders’ perennial complaint over the cost of doing business, particularly the demurrage, storage and other fees being unilaterally implemented by private arrastre operators and shipping lines.

“Hindi naman buwis ang inirereklamo ng mga importers kundi ang demurahe,” Maronilla noted.

With the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) also on board in the PTFC, Maronilla said they can now discuss on how the PPA can put some “obligations” to the arrastre operators and the shipping lines, the latter especially being notorious in implementing an assortment of charges.

Maronilla added they also intend to discuss in the committee the “streamlining” of the booking of cargo trucks. “Sa ngayon kasi, ang libre lang ay yung mga oras na ‘alangan,’ referring to the time frame not considered as ‘rush hour.’

A check on the current rates for demurrage and storage charges by one shipping line also disclosed that for reefer (refrigerated) vans, demurrage accrue after only 3 days at P3,075 per day while a storage fee of P1,080 per day is to be slapped after 5 days of the van’s arrival.

For 40-footer vans demurrage of P4,500 per day is to be slapped after 21 days and P2,250 per day for a 20-footer van.

To address this concern, Maronilla said they would also propose that compliance to the regulatory requirements (import permits) of other government agencies should be submitted after a shipment’s actual release.

“Sa pag-aaral namin, may mga permit na puwede namang ma-comply after na-release na ang kargamento,” he pointed out.