Allegations of widespread and institutionalized bribery within the Bureau of Customs have taken a deeply concerning turn.
Known informally within inner circles as the “All-In” system, this operation is allegedly a well-coordinated and hierarchical form of corruption that implicates officials across all levels of the bureau — from examiners and appraisers to division heads, deputy collectors, collectors, directors, assistant commissioners, deputy commissioners, and even the Commissioner himself.
The All-In System was introduced to replace the older Benchmarking System, where fixed duties were paid per container type – typically ₱120,000 for a 20-foot container and ₱180,000 for a 40-footer. Under the new scheme, importers pay a consolidated fee that includes not only the benchmarked duties and taxes but also all so-called “tara” or unofficial fees, supposedly streamlining the process and preventing the need to pay off individual personnel.
Under the All-In System, even the slightest discrepancies in cargo shipments are said to prompt officials to demand an “All-In” payment — a comprehensive bribe intended to smooth out all bureaucratic hurdles.
Importers and brokers are then reportedly left with little choice: pay the bribe or face costly delays, including exorbitant storage and demurrage fees, which can amount to hundreds of thousands of pesos per day.
This alleged unofficial but well-oiled system not only facilitates corruption but also drives up the prices of goods in the market. Importers pass on these added costs to consumers, further contributing to inflation. In effect, the burden of corruption is carried by the Filipino public.
More disturbingly, this same mechanism is said to be responsible for the unchecked entry of illegal drugs into the country. Substances such as party drugs, methamphetamine (shabu), and cocaine are reportedly able to flood the streets because “everyone is allegedly paid off” — from the Enforcement and Security Service to lower-level personnel.
A scheme dubbed “Double Kill” has also reportedly emerged. In this scenario, even after an importer has paid the All-In bribe, operatives under the Commissioner may still intercept and seize the shipment — supposedly for failing to meet additional unofficial quotas.
According to sources, the double Kill is executed through the Letter of Authority or LOA – a written authorization Rubio reportedly signed which empowers certain Customs officers to inspect premises and goods.
According to multiple industry insiders, some agents from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service have been allegedly deliberately misusing the LOA to conduct raids and inspections – even against brokers who have already complied with the Bureau of Customs’ newly implemented All-In System for duties and taxes.
“Even after we pay the all-in amount, they raid our shipments and threaten to confiscate goods unless we ‘settle’ with them,” said one broker who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This tactic pressures brokers and importers to pay more or risk prosecution, making corruption even more pervasive and predatory.
Insiders allege that the All-In system operates with full knowledge — and even the blessing — of the Commissioner.
The Commissioner, who allegedly rose through the ranks as a former “bagman” (an individual responsible for collecting and distributing bribes) as alleged by returning Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson in his privileged speech in 2017, is believed to have institutionalized the system based on his long-standing ties within the agency.
Every Friday, the Commissioner’s Chief of Staff is said to receive collections from Section Chiefs and District Collectors, who queue at the Office of the Commissioner to deliver their share. In each Customs District, collectors reportedly maintain their own “bagmen” to handle these transactions. When a bagman is apprehended, no information is leaked — owing to hefty payments, legal protection from in-house counsel, and the implicit threat of retaliation.
This climate of fear and complicity has made whistleblowing nearly impossible. Employees are silenced not just with money, but with the unspoken understanding that speaking out may endanger their careers — or their lives.
Thus, the Bureau of Customs is increasingly seen not as a regulatory agency but as a stronghold of organized corruption, where the All-In system functions like the lifeblood of a syndicate. Once entangled in this network, resistance becomes not just futile, but dangerous.
The Commissioner is actually no stranger to allegations of corruption.
Sometime in 2020, the National Bureau of Investigation reportedly made a breakthrough in its effort to crack the alleged syndicate in illegal collections in the BOC when they reportedly pounced on an alias Shonti, who admitted to be a bagman for a Customs official whom he referred to simply as Bien, supposedly referring to now Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, since April of that year.
According to Shonti, it was actually his cousin, a certain Mark delos Santos whom he had tasked to make the collections on his behalf, from no less than 12 importers whose names and contact numbers were supposedly furnished by Bien.
Once the collection has been completed, Shonti would then deliver the loot to Bien’s house in Bien’s house in Teachers Village in Quezon City.
However, that fateful week of August 2020 proved to be his last delivery for Bien as the NBI agents swooped on him after he fell to their sting operation. Shonti yielded P40,000 marked money the NGI used to entrap him.
Unfortunately, for some reasons, this operation was never revealed to the public. Why the news blackout?
Maybe, with the return of Senator Lacson, this case will be reopened. And maybe, the public will get a chance to hear directly from Shonti this time.
And also from the importers who were said to have been victimized by the All-In system and the Double Kill Scheme. If they were really executed under the full knowledge of the Customs Commissioner.
