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Friday, October 17, 2003
Luxury car sprung at night from port
By Elias O. Baquero
CEBU –- A Ford Mustang sports car from the United States was “forcibly taken” by armed men in the Cebu International Port (CIP) in commando-type operations Tuesday night.
Jonas Mascariñas, who is in charge of releasing cargo at the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. (Opascor), said the armed men forced open a van after he told them to wait for their supervisor.
Mascariñas narrated in a press conference that customs examiner Abdullah Basher of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu boarded the car, which sped away through the CIP exit gate. It had a Philippine-issued plate number, but Mascariñas couldn’t remember it.
Basher was allegedly with Conrad Rivera of the customs wharfinger’s office and a certain Vanguard, a supposed protege of District Collector Billy Bibit, who is reportedly one of several men posted in the CIP to watch cargo movements.
Basher, however, denied using armed men to take the sports car. He explained that it was covered by import documents with tax payments amounting to P293,510.
The tax included P65,688 in penalties owing to the lack of a permit from the Bureau of Import Services (BIS).
Basher said the car came from Oakland, California. Although consigned to one Romeo Dilig of No. 1 Angeles Du Compound, Redemptorist Site, Cebu City, it is said to be owned by a brother of Finance Secretary Isidro Camacho, whom Basher refused to identify.
The customs bureau works under the Department of Finance (DOF).
‘Irregular’
Opascor General Manager Tomas Riveral said customs personnel stripped the van on their own, a job that belongs to Opascor.
Riveral said that because the shipment is covered by import documents, a controversy could have been avoided had the examiner followed proper procedures.
Opascor personnel are willing to testify before the Office of the Ombudsman if the anti-graft office decides to investigate the incident.
Opascor Operations Manager Renato Arciaga said the car arrived from Hong Kong at 3 p.m. last Tuesday and was claimed by armed men six hours later.
Arciaga said Mascariñas failed to record the shipments in their logbook, in the rush of the commando-type operation. The empty van is still at CIP.
Arciaga described the stripping of the van and the unloading of the sports car as irregular, anomalous and a violation of procedure.
Overtime
Basher said Bibit approved the import entry. Dilig’s request for overtime in order to release the car was approved by port operations chief Ebrahim Pangkatan.
Section 3506 of the Tariff and Customs Code provides that customs employees may be assigned by a collector to do overtime when the service rendered is to be paid for by the importer.
But overtime work is only allowed for perishable items.
Basher admitted he boarded the car so he could take a taxi at a nearby mall, adding that few taxis come to the CIP at night.
He added that they used two vehicles in entering CIP: a Pajero driven by Vanguard and another owned by a bank official.
He said the car had California-issued plates.
The import entry declared the shipment as a used Ford Mustang model 2002, valued at P250,000.
However, Mascariñas said the car appeared to be brand new.
A new Ford Mustang is reportedly valued at roughly P2.5 million, including 100 percent tax. Sun.Star Cebu
(October 17, 2003 issue)
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