QUEZON City, Philippines (October 19) – Have you heard about the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) imposition of tax to the championship belt of the women’s flyweight boxing champion Jujeath Nagaowa when she claimed said belt that was shipped to her from Macau by the WIBA despite the fact that there is a law that exempts medals, trophies, awards, and other similar prizes or recognition coming from other countries or import as they call it.
For me personally, I can’t believe that she really has to pay for P5,809 just to retrieve the belt she won as her prize. I just can’t imagine how unjust it is to charge someone who successfully represented our country against others.
But if we are going to take a deeper look at it and also to be fair to both sides, Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina has already stated that “normally, awards have monetary value so they will be charged (duties and taxes). But that can be reimbursed if they get an exemption from the Department of Finance.” Lina added that “Had Nagaowa arrived at the airport wearing that belt, she could have been accommodated and not charged duties at all.”
So what happened is that Nagaowa didn’t arrived here wearing the championship belt and for that sole reason, the BOC collected a corresponding payment from her for said championship belt. Then Nagaowa complained about paying for her belt, stating that it should have been exempted from tax because it is a prize. But there is a restriction that in order for an award or a belt or anything alike not to be charged when it arrived in our country, the owner or the winner should file for an exemption from the Department of Finance. So it just shows that Nagaowa wasn’t able to file for any exemptions, that’s why she was obliged to pay the BOC in order to claim her championship belt.
In my own opinion, both sides have their shortcomings. For the BOC, I guess it is really necessary that you conduct at least a short seminar for anyone who will ever take home any prize or award, especially the Filipino athletes that are competing for the country, so that they will at least know the process that they need to do if ever they won.
As for Ms.Nagaowa, her deeds have so much impact, to the extent that there is a public clamor to question the BOC’s rules and regulations, I guess she should’ve asked first or at least consult someone who might have given her some advice with what to do or what the tax on her championship belt is all about. But can we blame her? I guess she is really not yet informed or there is no one available for her to explain everything about the said exemption because surely if there was , then she will absolutely comply. Of course, no one wants to pay for something that you got from winning,
In the end, Lina said that Ms.Nagaowa can have her payment refunded from the BOC. But just to point out what’s really wrong here, we hope that the Bureau of Customs do its job well, because there are a lot of issues arising from the said bureau, like damaging and imposing too much fees in some balikbayan boxes which are coming from our loved ones from abroad, rice smuggling as well as low taxed cars being brought through our country’s ports in various places and for that reason, we cannot blame if the public starts questioning their system and regulations.
There are a lot of Filipinos who are doing their best just to earn money and most of the time are sacrificing too much to work and to get anything with decency. We, as the ones concerned, should really seek the truth regarding the things that are really happening in our government system.
And finally, my message to the BOC, as a government agency, you must remember to do your duty with decency.
Source:
newsinfo.inquirer.net
(written by Donna Marie Rodriguez, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Vince Alvin Villarin)