Recto, Rubio highlight vital role of customs intelligence in border protection
BUREAU of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Bien Rubio underscored the importance of the bureau’s intelligence efforts in protecting the country’s borders as Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto extended his gratitude for the BOC’s role in ensuring communities remain safe.
In a speech delivered during the BOC’s Inter-Agency Intelligence Summit held last Friday, October 18, 2024 in Batangas, Rubio paid tribute to the “reinforced collaboration” of different agencies that led to P43.29 billion worth of seized smuggled goods in 2023.
And from January to October 2024, the BOC successfully conducted 1,414 operations worth P72.091 billion of smuggled goods, surpassing its accomplishments last year.
“In the face of increasingly complex threats, we must stand as a united front. With each of us having diverse expertise in the field of intelligence, we are afforded the opportunity to achieve far more collectively than any agency could accomplish alone,” Commissioner Rubio said.
In October 2024 alone, the BOC seized P3.09 billion worth of smuggled goods, which included P2.3 billion worth of various commodities, P22.3 million worth of cigarettes, and a P402 million vessel carrying smuggled petroleum products.
There was also the P42.16 million worth of illegal drugs intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the P323 million worth of smuggled sacks of rice.
Noting that the accomplishments recorded so far this year is “a record-breaking feat in the history” of the BOC, the official expressed confidence that more will be accomplished in the coming years.
“This proves that our combined efforts are not only effective, but essential in combatting smuggling and other illicit activities,” he said.
The summit, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Juvymax Uy said, creates a fora where key government agencies can come together and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
“The accumulation of knowledge and experience in intelligence operations through activities like this Intelligence Summit would enable us all to achieve an excellent resolution for dealing with trade facilitation, border protection and all other customs cooperation programs,” the deputy commissioner said.
“May we maintain the partnership we have established and further strengthen the collaboration as may be necessitated by the circumstances,” Uy added.
Meanwhile, Secretary Recto described intelligence as the “vanguard” of law enforcement because reliable information meant that there would be no need to mobilize armed group to stop the activities.
“And from a finance and budgetary point of view, it is an economical form of warfare, because good intelligence saves lives, disarms threats, defuse tensions and stop conflicts and crimes from happening,” he said.
The DOF secretary likewise brought attention to the role of the BOC’s intelligence division in ensuring that traditional and modern methods are used in curbing smuggling activities.
“In the case of smuggling of goods, it is a crime that victimizes millions – from farmers who drown from the flood of imported agricultural products, to entrepreneurs whose businesses are choked by unfair trade,” he said.
“Outwitting them requires agility in action, and openness to new ideas and techniques,” Secretary Recto added.
