Manila, Oct. 5 -- Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno on Wednesday underscored the need to further accelerate digitalization in the agency to thwart smuggling.

On the sidelines of the Federation of Philippine Industries Inc. Business Summit in Makati City, Nepomuceno said a private entity has proposed before the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Center an initiative eyed to, among others, modernize how imports and transactions are taxed.

He did not elaborate on the proponents or the proposed measure but said that under the proposal, importers will pay PHP350 per transaction even if the transaction involves one or several container vans.

Nepomuceno said the government needs to do is to ensure that the features of the pr...