Friday, January 11, 2008 PASG checks posh vehicles; Ferrari used by Wowowee host has valid papers: LTO
THE registration papers of the Ferrari that the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) seized from television game show host Willy Revillame are not fake, an official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Cebu City said.
Alita Pulga, the registrar of the LTO, made the clarification after a television station in Manila reported that the registration papers are bogus.
But while it was Revillame who was using the Ferrari, Pulga said the vehicle is not registered in his name. The Ferrari was registered in the name of its current owner.
The original owner was identified as Norbie Casile while the second owner was Ernesto P. Enriquez. The third and current owner of the luxury vehicle is Pedro A. Lanuza, but it is reportedly being used by Revillame, which could be the reason he was identified by Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. of PASG as the owner.
The two-door Ferrari is a 2006 model with engine number F136-102830 and bears the serial number ZFFEW58A660146444.
According to the LTO’s records, the vehicle was shipped to Cebu on Nov. 11, 2006 by EDL House of Imports based in Los Angeles, California in the United States, with Casile as consignee.
While the CP was issued by lawyer Maximo P. Reyes, the Port of Cebu deputy district collector for assessment, this was cleared by the Office of the Commissioner through William Dionisio of the Vehicle Importation Compliance Monitoring Unit.
Pulga furnished Sun.Star Cebu a Certificate of Payment (CP) of duties and taxes issued by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu, but did not explain why Casile of 772 EDSA corner East Ave., Diliman, Quezon City paid only P1,000,075.00 in taxes when that Ferrari is worth at least P25 million.
It was also not explained why Casile chose to file entry at the Port of Cebu on Dec. 14, 2006 and register with the LTO in Cebu City on Dec. 18, 2006, when she is a Quezon City resident.
Ownership
The Ferrari’s ownership was transferred to Enriquez’s name on Jan. 16, 2007, and to Lanuza on Sept. 4, 2007.
Pulga said this may be the reason Revillame, through his lawyer, denied that he owns the Ferrari.
She further said that it was Port of Cebu cashier Conrado Abarintos who told her that the vehicle is “tax-deficient.”
Under the Tariff and Customs Code, the tax deficiency is always attached to the vehicle, which means the BOC can collect taxes from the last owner even if the Ferarri has been sold three times.
A source from the BOC said that if the bureau still adopts the 50 percent duties and taxes on new vehicles, the Ferrari’s total tax would be P12.5 million. Its total tax deficiency would be more than P11 million.
Meanwhile, agents from PASG-Visayas inspected the BMW Service Center in Nivel Hills in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
The center is a member of the Cebu Auto Dealers Association, which has complained about the allegedly rampant vehicle smuggling in Cebu.
Hector Lacida of PASG-Visayas said they just jotted down the plate numbers of the BMW vehicles inside the shop for verification with the LTO and BOC. (EOB)
