Saturday, February 02, 2008 House resumes smuggling probe
THE House Committee on Good Government has set on Feb. 6 the next congressional hearing on the alleged vehicle smuggling in Cebu.
In a Jan. 28-letter, Committee chairman Ped-ro P. Romualdo requested Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu District Collector Ricardo Belmonte to appear it as a resource person to assist the body in the said inquiry.
“May we also request the submission of documents and papers that may be material to the said inquiry, particularly (the) proof of tax and customs duty payments on imported vehicles subject of your jurisdiction for the period 2006-2007,” Romualdo’s letter read.
Hearing
To give the committee enough time to peruse the documents, it also asked Belmonte to submit the documents three days prior to the scheduled hearing.
The hearing is in line with Resolution 320 which directed the Committee on Good Government to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the alleged rampant smuggling of used and brand new vehicles in Region 7, due to the “large percentage” of vehicle registrations at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
The resolution was authored by Reps. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district), Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), Ramon “Red” Durano IV (Cebu, 5th), Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd), Pablo Garcia (Cebu, 2nd), Eduardo R. Gullas (Cebu, 1st), Benhur L. Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th) and Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th).
Queries
Romualdo attached in his letter to Belmonte a copy of House Resolution 320, brief statements on the subject of the inquiry, fundamental queries relative to the subject and probable area of legislation.
The document on the fundamental queries for LTO and BOC stated the scope of function and responsibility of LTO, the procedure observed by LTO in the registration of new and used vehicles, scope and function of the BOC and the procedure observed by BOC regarding the importation of new and used vehicles.
The fundamental queries for the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) were the functions of PASG and the procedure observed in handling reported smuggling activities, reported smuggling cases in the country, particularly in Region 7, and related matters on the subject of inquiry.
The probable pieces of legislation the House committee could possibly pass, according to Romualdo’s case brief, are a review of the procedure for the registration of new and used vehicles in the Philippines, a remedial legislation on the regulation of the importation of new and used vehicles or a revisit of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines. (EOB)
