Former Customs Commissioner Titus Villanueva has recommended the creation of a risk management unit under the Office of the Commissioner to make good its promise to cut corruption in the bureau by 80 percent in three years.

“We need a risk management unit, staffed by highly trained intelligence officers linked with the worldwide customs intelligence network. This unit should be directly under the customs commissioner,” Villanueva said.

By doing so, he said it would streamline the operations and remove opportunities for graft while the bureau would achieve its goal to raise more revenues for the government.

“Raising the bureau’s revenue collections with a minimum of irregularities is a Herculean task, but not an impossibility,” he added.

Under the current system, the day-to-day screening operations on imports of the risk management office are being handled by the Customs deputy commissioner for the Intelligence Group. It is also tasked in the profiling of exporters, importers, brokers, and smuggling cases.

The BoC's procedures to cut red tape, according to Villanueva, must also be subject to better enforcement and consistent implementation to fully implement the government's anti-corruption drive within the agency.