President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has called anew for “drastic bureaucratic reforms” in the Bureau of Customs, including fully digitalizing its transactions, to finally combat “rampant smuggling,” Malacañang said on Friday.

The Presidential Communications Office said the President is convinced that the digitalization of government transactions would put an end to smuggling, which he said is obstructing the nation’s economic development.

“President Marcos said the country has to solve the issue of unabated smuggling, in which almost all kinds of commodities are being shipped into the country illegally,” PCO said.

Moreover, the chief executive wants to replicate “successful approaches being employed by several countries” to fight smuggling, which causes huge losses to local governments and producers.

One of the anti-smuggling actions being considered by the Marcos administration is opening up the database to the BoC and to the Department of Agriculture to ensure the efficient sharing of information concerning imported goods.

The DA and BoC have an existing data-sharing agreement that seeks to facilitate the exchange of information on traded agricultural products.

Early last year, the two agencies entered into an agreement to ensure that local agri-fishery products remained competitive.

The deal seeks to strengthen their coordination in inspecting imported goods and in collecting the right amount in customs duties.

The President earlier bemoaned the fact that the existing government system aimed at combating smuggling has been “ineffective.”

Digitalization

“Digitalizing the Philippines” is one of the key priorities of the Marcos administration as the President believes that digitalization would drive the country’s “long-term development and for the economic transformation of the post-pandemic global economy.”

He has also put a premium on the role of micro, small and medium enterprises in the administration’s digitalization efforts.

For Marcos, this would empower and enable MSMEs to participate in the digital economy and narrow the digital divide.