MANILA - The Bureau of Customs on Monday vowed to go after companies involved in rice smuggling instead of focusing on a certain David Tan, an alleged big-time smuggler whose activities allegedly cost government P7 billion in lost revenue every year. In his first press conference with the media, Customs Commissioner Sunny Sevilla said they are not aware if David Tan is a real or fictitious person especially since the big-time smuggler could be hiding his identity by spreading disinformation. He said that will not stop them from going after the consignees who receive the shipments. "We're not getting fixated on whether he is a real person or not because we have for every import may consignee yan. May consignee yan who is legally accountable to the Bureau of Customs so the fact na hindi namin alam kung meron talagang David Tan at kung sino siya in real life hahabulin pa din namin yung consignee because we know who the consignees are who are bringing in rice without import permits," he told reporters. Customs Deputy Commissioner Jessie Dellosa said the bureau's intelligence group is trying to profile the different players involved in rice smuggling, including Tan. He said the bureau is investigating the modus operandi of smugglers and the different consignees receiving the shipments. David Tan has been mentioned in several news reports on rice smuggling. A February 2013 report by four Senate committees identified Tan as among the "financiers" of 26 cooperatives that cornered a big chunk of the rice importation of the National Food Authority. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/12/26/13/corruption-customs-and-rice-how-smugglers-get-away-it Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to identify Tan and kill rice smugglers if they refuse to stop their illegal activities in his city. “I want smuggling of rice in my city stopped. But if you still do not stop your smuggling activities, I will kill you,” he said. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/01/06/14/duterte-rice-smugglers-i-will-kill-you Meanwhile, Sevilla said the bureau has already seized 1,900 containers of rice without import permits, equivalent to 48 million kilos of rice worth about P725 million. The seized shipments will become government property if nobody claims them after 30 days. Sevilla said some consignees are going to the courts to stop the Customs bureau from seizing illegal shipments. "We are going to contest very vigorously the injunctions against us," he said. Meanwhile, the Customs bureau aims to create a single information technology platform by the end of 2014. He explained there are many transactions which can be done digitally but are still processed on paper.
