Friday, August 03, 2007 Court stops auction of fuel in oil firm's padlocked depot
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday failed to auction off 300,000 barrels of oil stored in the gas depot of Oilink International Corporation that was closed by the agency after the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) issued a 72-day temporary restraining order (TRO).
Oilink legal counsel Gil Valera said the TRO was issued by the CTA stopped the BOC from bidding out the P3 billion worth of oil stored in the company's depot in Mariveles, Bataan.
CTA presiding justice Ernesto Acosta issued the TRO and was concurred by Associate Justices Lovell Bautista and Cesar Cassanova.
Valera said the company is set to file a permanent injunction with the CTA to allow them to resume their normal operations and for the withdrawal of military troops deployed in the oil depot facilities.
Independent Philippine Petoleum Companies Association (IPPCA) chairman Fernando Martinez said the BOC should consider the overall impact of its action on the country's economy.
"As the largest privately owned storage facility with one million barrel capacity supplying 12 percent of the total oil requirements, IPPCA is alarmed on the impact of the illegal closure of Oilink's depot both on the supply and the prices of petroleum products in the coming days if the said property will be remained seized by the BOC," he said.
At the same time, Martinez asked the government to give Oilink due process before confiscating the 300,000 barrels of petroleum products stocked in its depot in Bataan which is privately-owned.
"IPPCA is expressing concern over the sudden closure and takeover without the benefit of due process and court order of Oilink International Depot in Bataan by the Bureau of Customs on the ground of an assessment dispute," he said.
Oilink if the fourth largest oil depot in the country, supplying 500 stations nationwide or roughly around 12 percent of the total oil requirements of the country.
Customs Commissioer Napoleon Morales closed Oilink's depot after the company failed to declare 5,528 metric tons (MT) of fuel in September 2004. (MSN/Sunnex)
