On February
6, 1902, the Philippine Commission passed Act No. 355, "The Philippine
Customs Administrative Act.” Patterned after the principles
of the customs administration laws of the United States, this act
created the customs service of the Philippines whose function was
to collect all the revenue warranted by law.
On March 3, 1902, the Commission passed Act No. 367 mandating the
organization of the personnel of the Philippine Customs Service
and thereby gave uniformity to classification, grades, and qualifications
of customs officials and employees.
Years later, graft and corruption slowly deprived the government
of millions of pesos in revenue, giving the country a bad name abroad.
In October 4, 1947, an Executive Order signed by then President
Manuel Roxas effected the reorganization of seven government offices,
including the Bureau of Customs (BOC). The BOC head was given a
new tide, Commissioner of Customs instead of the former tide Insular
Collector of Customs. It abolished the position of Deputy Insular
Collector of Customs and in its place was created the position of
Collector of Customs for the Port of Manila.
The BOC has a daunting challenge to face with the expeditious'
advances of technology and competition borne by globalization, not
to mention, the dictates in the general conduct of businesses, individual
travels, and consumer demands by the World Trade Organization (WTO),
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the Asean
Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).
