Drawer-less tables for the Philippine Bureau of Customs

This is another one of those Pinoy-style "solutions" typical in a society that comes up with jeepneys and tricycles as the primary means of transportation for a country of almost 100 million. A "solution" for the culture of corruption that infests the Bureau of Customs is underpinned by the Filipino's renowned ingenuity...

MANILA, Philippines - Customs employees may soon find themselves working at drawer-less tables and with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras watching over them.

The newly installed commissioner of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) is eyeing the use of drawer-less tables and the installation of the CCTVs to combat corruption, particularly the so-called “open drawer” racket among erring customs personnel in various ports of the country.

BOC chief Lito Alvarez told reporters during the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel in Quezon City said that removal of drawers and the installation of CCTV cameras would be a deterrent to the corruption of customs personnel.

This is the sort of "ingenuity" that will simply be trumped by even more ingenuity applied to finding ways to get around it. And that is what Filipino "ingenuity" is really all about.