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Saturday, January 21, 2006
Davao customs to probe Vietnam's anomaly raps
THE Bureau of Customs intends to probe whether Vietnam delegates of the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) were indeed subjects of corrupt practices allegedly by customs employees.
The Vietnamese official though has already assured organizers that it was the courier company who was at fault and not customs.
Felix Espino, head of the Customs Investigation Section Port of Davao, said they plan to talk with the Vietnamese delegation to ascertain if indeed there was an anomaly committed by some customs employees.
Espino said they will not allow any anomaly in their office especially if this was committed against foreign delegates to the ATF.
The head of the Vietnam delegation expressed dissatisfaction Thursday over the alleged holding of their promotional materials by customs.
Pham Huu Minh, director of the tourism promotion department of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said he is very disappointed by the non-release of the materials needed for ATF's Travel Exchange (Travex) at the NCCC Mall.
As a result, the Vietnamese delegation failed to distribute promotional materials to prospective buyers at Travex.
Minh said the customs first demanded payment of P12,000 that later increased to P18,000.
But in an interview Friday, Minh clarified that he never blamed customs for the delay of the release of their materials.
Minh said it was the fault of the cargo forwarding company they tapped and not the Philippine government and its agency.
"It was just a misunderstanding. I never blamed the customs. The amount we paid was for the customs duty. And we already paid it and I already have the materials Thursday afternoon," Minh said.
Minh said they are happy that they joined the ATF in Davao City, adding that upon his return to Vietnam he will start promoting Davao's tourism potentials. (BOT)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (January 21, 2006 issue)
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