Van checks to be done at Customs bureau

INSPECTION of container vans entering Davao City through the Port of Davao at Sasa Wharf will be done at Bureau of Custom’s (BOC) newly-installed examination area inside the wharf.

This was ordered by Judge Emmanuel Carpio, presiding judge of Branch 16 of the Regional Trial Court, as he junked the prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction filed by Rodolfo Reta after the BOC unilaterally moved the examination of container vans inside the Sasa Wharf after Acquarius Container Yard (ACY) halted operations last February 26.

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ACY is the designated examination area of the BOC. However, a series of allegations being hurled against each other, including the coddling of smugglers, among others, caused the Customs bureau to rescind the designation of ACY as a designated examination area.

In his prayer for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction, ACY owner Reta said the letter of BOC District Collector lawyer Anju Nereo Castigador, which moved the examination from ACY to the wharf, has been done without due process, thus rendering it null and void.

Reta also said in his prayer that the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that designates ACY as a designated examination area states that he has a clear right to be protected, such that an abrupt revocation without clear basis would cause grave, serious, and irreparable damage.

For his final contention, Reta said the BOC’s defiance on the Temporary Restraining Orders issued by the court showed a willful and deliberate disregard and disobedience of the court’s order, which tends to bring the authority of the court and the administration of the law into dispute and impede due administration of justice.

The legal counsel of the BOC, for its part, contended that the issuance of an injunctive writ would be tantamount to an interference by the court in their exercise of a purely customs function.

“Plaintiff has not demonstrated the existence of a right that has been violated by the defendants,” the legal counsel of the BOC said, debunking the second contention of Reta.

The BOC also said that Reta will not suffer any grave or irreparable injury even if examination is conducted inside the wharf and not at ACY.

In his decision, Carpio said damages are irreparable if there is no standard by which their amount can be measured with reasonable accuracy.

“Irreparable damage does not have reference to the amount of damage caused but rather to the difficulty of measuring the amount of damage inflicted,” Carpio said in his decision.

“Guided by the above definitions, the court finds that the damage that the plaintiff may suffer in the event the preliminary injunction is denied and plaintiff’s wins the case is susceptible of mathematical computation. As such, the damage is not irreparable,” Carpio said in his decision, citing the allegation of Reta that he has suffered damages averaging P100,000 a day since March 1, 2010.

In a separate decision, Carpio also junked the indirect contempt filed by Reta against Castigador.

Both decisions were issued last Friday, March 19. (CPM)