Saturday, February 09, 2008 House committee to continue smuggling probe
THE House committee on good government will hold on Feb. 13 probably the last hearing at the House of Representatives in Quezon City on the rampant vehicle smuggling in Cebu.
In his letter, Rep. Pedro Romualdo (Camiguin), committee chairman, ordered Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Napoleon Morales to submit the flowchart of the BOC procedure on the importation of motor vehicles.
Morales was also ordered to submit a list of imported motor vehicles with the corresponding certificates of payment (CP) of duties and taxes and attachments in the year 2006 and 2007.
Deliberation
Morales must also submit documents relative to the 40 vehicles recently sold by BOC in a public auction and the list of the importers and winning bidder.
Romualdo’s letter to Morales was made last Feb. 6, the day of the second congressional hearing on smuggling that was attended by at least 20 congressmen.
In the hearing, the committee resumed the deliberation of House Resolution 320 entitled “Resolution directing the committee on good government to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation on the alleged rampant smuggling of used and new vehicles in Region 7 as shown by a large percentage of Land Transportation Office’s registrations.”
Attendance
The resolution was authored by Reps. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south), Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north), Ramon Durano Vl (Cebu, 5th) Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 2nd), Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st), Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th) and Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th).
During the hearing last Wednesday, Morales, Under-secretary Antonio Villar Jr. and LTO 7 Chief Roberto Suansing failed to attend despite the notices sent to them.
Cuenco said Morales and Villar failed to attend the hearing twice despite of the fact that their statements are vital to enlighten the committee on how smuggling was done in the country and why they failed to stop it.
Cuenco said he will move for the arrest of Villar and Morales if they will still fail to attend the next hearing.
Romualdo, who was visibly irked by the none appearance of Villar, said he wonder why Villar could not attend hearings when he is always visible on television interviews accusing the BOC and LTO officials of conniving with the vehicle smugglers.
“May we again respectfully request the participation of your agency in said deliberation and your presence before the committee, as resource person to assist the committee in the said inquiry, on the date, time and place aforementioned,” read Romualdo’s letter to Morales.
Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. (not Besaga as earlier reported) of the second district of Cavite said he wants to know in the next hearing why BOC officials failed to file charges against the smugglers of vehicles.
Barzaga said the refusal of the BOC officials to identify the smugglers by following the paper trail from the suppliers abroad to the transport of the vehicles to the country is enough basis for the people to suspect that they connived with them. (EOB)
