Balikbayan Box

Bam on Balikbayan Boxes, Internet Infrastructure (Excerpts from Interview at Radyo Inquirer 990)

On Internet Infrastructure

 

Sen. Bam: Baka panahon na iyong gobyerno mismo ang maglatag ng fiber optic highway.

Ang modelo kasi sa ibang bansa, naglalatag ang gobyerno ng fiber tapos ang private sector nagre-rent sa gobyerno. Makukuha mo pa rin iyan, dahil gobyerno lang ang nag-upfront.

Habang dini-develop mo ang area, mas magiging viable iyan sa private sector, mas magre-rent sila, mas mababayaran ang infrastructure natin.

Sabi ko nga kay NEDA Secretary Balisacan, Secretary narito na ang NTC, DTI, DOST at private sector, puwede ba sa next hearing natin pag-usapan ang mga solusyon. Kasi ang previous hearings, puro about consumer complaint, na makuha ang tapat na binabayaran, kasi kahit po iyon, hindi nakukuha ng ating kababayan.

Ang next diyan, ano ang long-term solutions at ano ba ang pondong kailangan para dito. Pakiramdam ko kailangang pondohan iyan kasi nakasalalay diyan ang competitiveness ng ating bansa.

Iyong ekonomiya natin maganda ang takbo pero in a few years makita ng investors na mabagal ang Internet diyan, baka hindi pa maging tuluy-tuloy ang investments natin.

Tsaka iyong jobs natin nakasalalay sa Internet infrastructure kaya tuluy-tuloy ang pagtutok natin dito.

 

On the Balikbayan Box Issue

 

Q: Sa balikbayan box, napakainit na usapin po ito. Ano ang pakiramdam ninyo rito, ano ang posisyon niyo sa pag-open, by random, ng balikbayan boxes.

 

Sen. Bam: Matagal na akong nag-file ng bill na pagtataas ng de minimis. Ang de minimis po, kasi sa ating bansa, ten pesos lang. More than ten pesos lang, puwede nang i-tax. Napakaluma na ng probisyong iyan, hindi pa binabago.

Kahit mag-uwi po ako ng tsokolate mula sa ibang bansa, technically puwede na akong i-tax doon kasi hindi nila ina-update iyong ten pesos.

Nag-file na po ako a few months ago, na ang ten pesos gawing ten thousand pesos. Kaya kung less than P10,000, hindi na dapat iyan puwedeng i-tax. Of course, ang ginagawa ngayon wala na lang pumapansin.

 

Q: Iyong act ng pagbubukas mismo. Iyong random inspection?

 

Sen. Bam: Sa totoo lang, we have to check kung ano ang mga patakaran diyan. Kasi ang isyu naman ng BOC ay pagdating sa drugs at mga baril.

I also don’t know kung gaano kadalas nangyayari iyon. Gaano ba kadalas nakakapasok ang drugs at baril sa balikbayan box.

 

Q: Ang ginagawa nila, kaakibat daw ng tamang pagpapataw ng buwis. Tulad ng sinabi ninyo, the root cause here is that after ten pesos puwede ka nang buwisan. Ang solusyon niyo, kapag P10,000 exempted na, wala nang babayaran.

 

Sen. Bam: Matagal ko na pong na-file iyon, hindi na po iyan nahi-hear. I hope that it can pass into law, number one.

Number two, ang comment ng mga tao, ang dami-daming mga smuggling ng container bakit pati balikbayan box, binibigyan nila ng pansin.

Naiintindihan ko iyon kasi it’s not as if iyong smuggling sa ating bansa wala na, iyong malakihang smuggling. Noong isang linggo lang, maraming luxury car ang nahuli.

Baka rin nasa kung ano talaga ang focus. At the same time, suportahan po natin ang OFWs. Taasan po natin iyong de minimis. Iyon ang batas na gusto nating isulong.

 

Q: Hindi alam ng taumbayan na ang de minimis, hindi pa pala naamyendahan, at iyon ang ginagamit ng Bureau of Customs ngayon para magbayad ng mas matindi pa ang taumbayan.

 

Sen. Bam: I’m sure magkaka-hearing po na niyan. Isusulong po natin ang bill natin na  pagtaas ng de minimis, gawing P10,000, na kahit ibukas pa iyan, walang isyu, dahil karamihan ng nasa loob ng balikbayan box ay house items at personal items.

 

Bam Renews Call for Updated Fees for Balikbayan Boxes

Senator Bam Aquino renewed his call to update the current minimum fee threshold for balikbayan boxes, making it cheaper and hassle-free for 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to send their packages to their loved ones in the Philippines. 

Sen. Bam, chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, issued the pronouncement after OFWs expressed alarm over the Bureau of Customs’ plan to tax and randomly inspect balikbayan boxes as part of the agency’s anti-smuggling campaign.

Last Aug. 26, 2014, Sen. Bam filed Senate Bill No. 2373, seeking to update the current de minimis threshold, or the minimal volume of declaration of goods in the customs for consignments, balikbakan boxes and other low-value and low-risk packages.

“Now that the spotlight is focused on the issue, we call on fellow lawmakers to hasten the passage of the measure to make it cheaper and hassle-free for 10 million OFWs to send their packages to their loved ones in the Philippines,” Sen. Bam said. 

Currently, the Philippines has the lowest de minimis threshold in the ASEAN, at PhP10 or US$0.23. The ASEAN average threshold is at a hundred dollars.

In his bill, Sen. Bam wants the de minimis level to increase to a more realistic and relevant figure of P10,000 by amending Sec. 709 of the Tariff and Customs Code.

Through this, Aquino said balikbayan boxes and other packages of OFWs, entrepreneurs and other individuals will be processed by Customs faster with minimum fees.

“The extremely low Philippine threshold has not been changed since 1957 and is clearly antiquated. It needs to be updated to be reflective of current prices,” the senator said. 

The lawmaker explained that thresholds for customs declaration signify increased documentation and processes for shipments at entry points in the country.

“Increased documentation leads to larger turnover and delivery time of goods, and larger administration costs that would yield lower revenue impact for both businesses and government,” Sen. Bam said.

“While we understand that random inspection is part of our efforts to curb entry of illegal goods, we should not burden our honest and hardworking OFWs by subjecting their packages to searches that result in damages, pilferages, and loss of goods, which they purchased and sacrificed for their loved ones back home,” he added.

“In addition to this reform, let’s continue to modernize our Customs systems to make our inspections more transparent and efficient, and supportive to our OFW families,” Sen. Bam, who also presided over the port congestion hearings.

Furthermore, Sen. Bam stressed that it will enable the BOC to focus its efforts in looking out for high-value, high-risk and high-revenue goods for collection and enforcement.

Lower Customs Cost for OFWs’ Balikbayan Boxes, Packages – Sen. Bam

Good news for 10 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) burdened by the tedious and costly process of sending balikbayan boxes to their loved ones in the Philippines.

Sending balikbayan boxes and other low-value and low-risk packages to the Philippines will be faster and cheaper if the proposal of Senator Bam Aquino to update the current de minimis threshold is enacted into law.

“Sending a balikbayan box home especially this coming Christmas season becomes burdensome for these modern-day heroes. Currently, these packages undergo a tedious process in the customs and are charged fees that are discouraging for OFWs to send more regularly,” the senator said.

“There is a need to provide the ten million Filipinos abroad, who have been already contributing greatly to the economy the past four decades, a better customs administration by reducing the de minimis threshold,” he added.

Currently, the Philippines has the lowest de minimis threshold, or the minimal volume of declaration of goods in the customs for consignments, in the ASEAN, at PhP10 or US$0.23. The ASEAN average threshold is at a hundred dollars.

“The extremely low Philippine threshold has not been changed since 1957 and is clearly antiquated. It needs to be updated to be reflective of current prices,” the senator said.

The lawmaker explained that thresholds for customs declaration signify increased documentation and processes for shipments at entry points in the country.

“Increased documentation leads to larger turnover and delivery time of goods, and larger administration costs that would yield lower revenue impact for both businesses and government,” he added.

 By increasing the de minimis level to a more realistic and relevant figure of P10,000, Aquino saidbalikbayan boxes and other packages of OFWs, entrepreneurs and other individuals will be processed by Customs faster with minimum fees.

“Also, it will enable the Bureau of Customs to focus its efforts in looking out for high-value, high-risk and high-revenue goods for collection and enforcement, thereby making customs processes more efficient,” he added.

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