By Ellen Tordesillas, Vera Files

The Bureau of Customs sought Friday to allay public distrust arising from the directive of President Gloria Arroyo to course all foreign donations through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) by setting up a multi-agency one-stop shop system at all its offices, including at the airports, to facilitate the release and delivery of goods for victims of tropical storm Ondoy.

“It’s our initiative to prevent unscrupulous persons to take advantage of the crisis situation. This is a safety net mechanism. This is also to prevent smuggling,” Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said.

He added that the one-stop shop system would rationalize the distribution of donations to ensure these get to as many victims as possible.

Morales said that the one-stop shop desk would be composed of representatives of the DSWD, National Disaster Coordinating Council, Presidential Management Staff, Department of Finance, Department of Health, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Bureau of Food and Drugs, among others.

President Arroyo ordered on September 29 that only foreign donations coursed through the Social Welfare department would be tax-free. “Hindi sisingilan ng buwis o kukumpiskahan ng Bureau of Customs ang mga donasyon ng pagkain at kagamitan mula sa ibang bayan, basta’t ito ay naka-consigned sa DSWD [Food and equipment donations will not be taxed or confiscated by the Bureau of Customs if such donations are consigned to DSWD],” she said in her order.

This statement created some confusion because the country’s Tariff and Customs Code allows non-profit, welfare, religious and charitable organizations registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and duly licensed or accredited to receive duty-free donations.

Morales belied reports that foreign donations for Ondoy victims not consigned through DSWD are being held at the Customs bureau. He said that what his office has received so far was a planeload of donations from the US government consigned to the Philippine National Red Cross and released Friday morning.

According to Morales, he has been informed of planeloads of donations coming from Taiwan and Italy. The Australian government, he said, will also be donating rubber boats to the Philippine Coast Guard.

“As of now, there has been no arrival of donations from foreign NGOs [nongovernment organizations] yet,” he said.

Morales added that release of donated used clothes must be coursed through the DSWD for fumigation.

Fr. Benjamin Alforque, the president of the US-based National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, said, “Taxing donations that do not go through the DSWD is only a manifestation of further exploitation of Filipinos overseas by the Philippine government, which takes pride in its ‘Bagong Bayani,’ but is actually doing otherwise. This move can only lead to our kababayans [compatriots] getting discouraged in sending much needed help to the motherland, whose only concern is to extend aid to their own families and to other distressed fellow Filipinos during these trying times.”

“These steps being taken by Mrs. Arroyo to control the outpouring of support to the Philippines is a display of arrogance, making her administration look good and undermining efforts of people’s organizations whose relief efforts are made possible even without help from her government,” he added.

John Leonard Monterona, the regional coordinator of Migrante in the Middle East, finds the directive
“unreasonable” because Filipino communities prefer to entrust their donations to Migrante and other people’s organizations rather than to government posts or agencies.

Sen. Francis Escudero, the chairman of the Senate ways and means committee, is concerned that the DSWD would not be able to handle the outpouring of donations from Filipino groups abroad and would just delay the assistance.

Escudero said that many Filipinos abroad distrust the government and do not want to entrust their donations through its agencies.

Sen. Alan Cayetano said, “At this point, we need all the help we can get. And although the DSWD is one of the most trusted departments, some would simply rather donate directly through their partner organizations.”

Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City, the president of the United Opposition, urged national government agencies to exercise flexibility in processing donations for calamity victims.

“It is indeed a sad commentary when most overseas Filipinos would rather donate to private charitable groups than to the national government. But this is not the time for the national government to be sensitive or to assert itself, but rather to show flexibility,” he said.

The Makati mayor added that he supports a move to exempt calamity donations addressed to private entities from donor’s tax. He said that it sends a wrong signal when the national government is seen as profiting from a calamity by collecting taxes on donation for calamity victims.

VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”