MANILA - The reported six influential and dangerous smugglers from Cebu remained unnamed yesterday despite pressure by Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco.
In yesterday’s congressional hearing on vehicle smuggling, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) Chief Antonio Villar refused to name the six big-time smugglers saying he feared being charged with libel because they do not have enough evidence against the six.
In the April 23 hearing, Villar said these six influential smugglers, all based in Cebu and operating in Central Visayas, are responsible for the flooding of smuggled cars in Cebu, Bohol and Oriental Negros.
Yesterday, Villar resisted pressure by Cuenco to name them saying they have weak evidence against them, since they use dummies and customs brokers who hide their identities in filing import entries.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and PASG have pledged to file more cases against more vehicle smugglers in Cebu and other ports of the country to stop them in their illegal trade.
Lawyer Reynaldo Umali, deputy commissioner for assessment group, said about 78 cases have so far been filed against importers of various undervalued and misdeclared goods, including two persons from Cebu.
The value of the smuggled goods involved in the 78 cases amounted to P6.29 billion.
Umali said the names of the two from Cebu are not fictitious because their identities also appeared in the records of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar yesterday expressed his dismay over the failure to charge more smugglers when there were hundreds of vehicles reportedly seized by both the BOC and PASG.
Seized vehicles
PASG reported to the House Committee on Good Government that they apprehended a total of 652 untaxed or tax-deficient vehicles, 81 units of which were issued warrants of seizure and detention (WSD), while the other 571 units have no WSDs. About 32 units are now under the BOC’s custody.
“More important than just submitting a list is the filing of charges against the smugglers,” said del Mar.
Villar, for his part, said there are now 24 National Bureau of Investigation agents detailed with PASG; he will send five of them to Cebu to assist PASG-Visayas Director Ariel Palcuto in filing charges against Cebu importers who smuggle vehicles.
Last Sept. 5, 2007, Villar personally led the raid of a warehouse in Barangay Tingub, Mandaue City, resulting in the apprehension of 19 vehicles of different brands.
Palcuto said a certain Roger Balila has been charged with the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office over the seizure. The case is still pending.
Rep. Pedro Romualdo, committee chairman, yesterday asked Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales why it is hard to identify persons behind the shipment of smuggled goods when the import entry contains the names of the importer, consignee and customs broker.
Morales replied that even if a smuggler will not file an import entry, the names of the shipper, consignee and broker will still appear in the cargo manifest.
Identified
“We have identified several of them. In Cebu, there are so many cases that have been filed with the DOJ (Department of Justice) regarding smuggling of motor vehicles as well as importation of used motor vehicles under the RATS program”, Morales said.
Morales said that it is their standard operating procedure to file cases against importers, brokers and customs personnel every time they apprehend untaxed goods.
District Collector Ricardo Belmonte of the BOC Port of Cebu said that all imported goods that were shipped to Cebu in violation of the Tariff and Customs Code have been seized and forfeited in favor of the government.
Belmonte said there are lists of importers and consignees that have been forwarded to the Run After the Smugglers (RATS) team for investigation and filing of cases.
Monitor cases
Cuenco, on the other hand, said he noticed that smuggling in the country has been curtailed by the congressional inquiry and the participation of PASG and other government agencies in the effort to stop importers from evading paying taxes.
While congratulating all government agencies concerned, Cuenco also urged them not to stop there.
Cuenco suggested that the House Committee on Good Government monitor the cases that have been filed against the smugglers.
“Many cases have been filed against violators of the customs laws. But those cases have slept, like the sleep of the dead. Nothing has happen to these cases. It’s easy to file cases but to pursue the case and see it through resulting in the conviction of the culprits is something else,” Cuenco said.
He also said that he was amazed by the figures regarding the registration of cars in the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Toledo City.
Cuenco noted the data submitted to the committee by PASG Executive Director Guillermo Francia stating that the LTO in Toledo City registered 441 imported vehicles in 2006 but only 14 of these units were renewed in 2007.
Voluntary
“What is the significance of this?,” Cuenco asked Villar.
Villar answered that because there is a “voluntary disclosure program” of the BOC, they are waiting for the owners to voluntarily submit to them the proper documentation and the correct taxes to be paid.
Villar said that based on the data furnished to him by Assistant Secretary Alberto Suansing, the LTO chief, they found that several vehicles which were registered in Cebu are not documented by BOC.
He theorized that most of these smuggled vehicles were misdeclared.
“We suggested to the LTO that the registration of imported vehicles shall be centralized at the LTO in Quezon City, because if there are cars which are registered in Toledo City or in Zamboanga City, you can always register in any other LTO agency, and there’s a hard way to find whether taxes are paid,” Villar said.
When asked by Rep. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, 4th district) about the number of importers in Cebu, Belmonte said that 576 are in the list with accreditation for importing various commodities.
Belmonte said there is no classification of importers because once accredited, they can import various goods.
The committee was supposed to wrap up the hearings yesterday but Romualdo said they need to conduct one more hearing to discuss legislative actions pertaining to the amendment of the Tariff and Customs Code. (EOB)
