(BERNARD TAGUINOD)

TINUTUTUKAN ng mababang kapulungan ng Kongreso ang talamak na smuggling activities umano sa mga economic zone (Ecozones) sa Pilipinas dahil halos P1 trillion ang sinasabing nawawalang buwis sa gobyerno sa mga ilegal na aktibidad dito.

Ngayong araw ay magsasagawa ng pagdinig ang House ways and means committee na pinamumunuan ni Albay Rep. Joey Salceda upang makahanap ng paraan kung papaano pipigilan ang smuggling activities sa Ecozones.

“Ecozones are the country’s trillion-peso blackhole. It’s where a third of government revenues go to disappear. The bleeding has to stop,” ayon sa pahayag ni Salceda noong Sabado.

Ayon sa mambabatas, hindi lamang langis ang ini-smuggle sa mga ecozone kundi sigarilyo at agricultural products kaya halos P1 trillion umano ang nawawalang buwis sa gobyerno taon-taon.

“For tax incentives in 2017, the latest complete figure, we gave P504 billion in national government tax incentives. If you price in the special privileges If you price in the smuggling that these freeport zones enable, easily, the annual cost to the taxpayer of ecozones is P695 billion for that year alone,” ayon sa mambabatas.

“With higher excise taxes on fuel, cigarettes, and sugar-sweetened beverages, as well as very attractive prices for food smuggling, the present figure is probably very close to 1 trillion pesos every year,” dagdag pa nito.

Tinataya ng mambabatas na umaabot sa P30 billion ang nawawalang buwis sa tobacco smuggling habang P357 billion naman ang naglaho sa gobyerno mula 2010 hanggang 2019 sa fuel tax.

Lagi umanong binabantayan ng lahat ang Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) at Bureau of Customs (BOC) sa smuggling activities subalit walang pumapansin sa mga Freeport zone kung saan mas malaki ang nawawalang buwis dahil sa smuggling.

“In Clark, it’s so easy to get cigarettes that do not have tax stamps. It’s Subic, throngs of would-be agents of smuggled fuel wait every day outside the zone to negotiate. The freeports are outside customs territory, so BOC’s ability to enforce and do surveillance inside is extremely limited. PEZA has its own police. They should do better,” ayon sa mambabatas.