STO. TOMAS–There is no holiday for operatives of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) this Christmas and New Year.

Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., head of the PASG, said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has given orders to continue their watch as smugglers do take advantage of the celebrations as opportunities to strike.

“It is usually during holidays that the smugglers bring in their goods (out of the customs area), taking advantage when they notice only a few people are on duty,” he said.

Villar, former mayor of Sto. Tomas town, said that even on the night of December 24, his men were conducting raids on warehouses where smugglers were suspected to have stocked their illegal goods.

According to data from the Department of Finance, rampant smuggling costs the country up to P65 billion yearly in revenue losses. The International Monetary Fund has a higher loss estimate at P125 billion.

Villar chided the Bureau of Customs saying the government can do away with his group if the bureau would only “follow a straight line and its men will put their acts together”.

The PASG recently filed charges against Oil Link and Unioil for smuggling oil that otherwise can earn the government P2.5 billion in customs duty.

Villar, however, considers the busting of a P5 billion shabu shipment a few months ago as the PASG’s biggest accomplishment so far, going into records as the biggest drug bust in the whole of Asia.

The U.S. Tobacco and Alcohol Administration congratulated PASG for the feat.—LM

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