Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Naming ‘smugglers’ would be irresponsible: PJ
REP. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) yesterday defended the House committee on good government, which refused to name the alleged six top car smugglers in Cebu.
Garcia said it would be irresponsible to name the alleged smugglers when even the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) admitted it has weak evidence against them.
“We want these smugglers to be named. However, we should not blame the House committee if the smugglers are not named because even the PASG is hesitant to
name the alleged smugglers,” Garcia told Sun.Star Cebu.
The anti-smuggling body has “no concrete evidence, only rumors,” said Garcia.
During the recent House inquiry, PASG Chief Antonio Villar refused to name the six big-time smugglers, saying he feared he would be charged with libel because they do not have evidence against the six.
Influential
Villar had 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 Negros Oriental.
Garcia said the committee should ask PASG to build up cases against the smugglers and file these in court.
Although the committee is authorized to ask the anti-smuggling group to identify the smugglers, Garcia said the most prudent thing to do is to establish evidence first before filing charges.
PASG recently reported to the committee that they apprehended a total of 652 untaxed or tax-deficient vehicles, 81 of which were issued warrants of seizure and detention.
The other 571 units have no WSDs, while about 32 units are now under the Bureau of Custom’s custody. (GMD)
