Thursday, December 13, 2007 House body establishes route of used vehicles smuggling
THE House committee on good government was able to establish a route of used vehicles smuggling in Cebu and vowed to unmask the culprits of these illegal activities using the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu, south district), who sponsored House Resolution 320, said committee head Rep. Pedro Romualdo (Camiguin) found a fruitful start in the investigation in aid of legislation, as the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) has confirmed that there is indeed smuggling at the Port of Cebu.
A press statement from Cuenco’s office said that during the hearing last Tuesday, PASG Director for Intelligence Guillermo Francia IV confirmed a clear route of the documents pertaining to illegal importation.
Francia said their office was able to identify the BOC offices responsible for the release of smuggled shipment, including imported vehicles.
Agreement
Based on PASG’s confirmation, the committee members and Cuenco agreed to summon Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales and Port of Cebu District Collector Ricardo Belmonte to shed light on the smuggling issue.
“Other agencies of the government will be also be summoned to help the committee determine the issues,” said Cuenco.
Earlier, Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 Director Alex Leyson said he is ready to appear before the congressional inquiry and submit documents pertaining to the registration of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in Central Visayas.
LTO 7 records showed that the number of SUV registration is higher from the last quarter of 2006 and the first half of 2007.
Cuenco said that based on the evidence initially presented during the hearing, the lawmakers learned that the system of releasing the imported motor-vehicles from BOC is flawed, which need to be addressed through legislation.
“We recommend the old system, which is the SGS inspection system to be adopted,” he said, adding that this system was more acceptable to other agencies like PASG and LTO. He said this system can be easily monitored by agencies, which have been involved in the importation of goods.
Inspection
PASG’s Atty. Liza Sebastian and Francia recommended during the hearing that the old system of inspection be implemented, as it can be easily monitored by their office.
A customs official, who requested anonymity, said the SGS system is more tedious and is against trade facilitation, which may create a setback of the electronic system the bureau has been implementing to minimize the burden of the importers as well as the workload of the bureau personnel.
But another customs official from the Port of Cebu said that the SGS, a foreign firm contracted by BOC was terminated because the Philippine Government is losing billions of pesos in SGS service fees because preventing smuggling can be done by honest Filipinos.
Cebu Auto Dealers Association (Cada) president Jose Manuel Cuenco confirmed during the hearing that they found a discrepancy in the figures of the vehicles their member-dealers sold in the market and the figures of vehicles registered at the LTO.
Prosecution
Romualdo, before he adjourned the hearing, said his committee will not push for the prosecution of whoever will be found to have violated the law in illegally importing vehicles.
However, Leyson said that there are brand-new vehicles imported directly by businessmen from abroad.
Romualdo said the task of his committee is to improve the system at the BOC and LTO by creating measures through legislative action.
But Cada’s Cuenco said they will still cooperate with Romualdo’s committee in order to correct the system, so as not to frustrate the interest of the car dealers and the government. (EOB)
