TO CLEAR local ports from imported cargoes, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Northern Mindanao will auction off various imported goods it has confiscated in the past few months, especially those that have been clogging up the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) yard in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Among the items that are up for auction are three vintage vehicles: two Mercedez Benz and a Porsche whose consignee was identified by BOC-Northern Mindanao as Rudolf Golez.
According to the BOC-Northern Mindanao, the cars were believed to be worth P4 million.
Golez was quoted in a report as saying the confiscation was just a minor violation and that the classic cars are for the museum collection in a school his family owns.
Marvin Mison, auction chairman, said about 50 container vans containing a variety of merchandise will be opened and will be available for auction at the MCT on September 8.
Mison said there will be a public viewing of the goods for the appreciation of the prospective bidders three days prior to the auction.
He said interested parties wishing to join the bidding must register at the BOC-Northern Mindanao two days before the auction date and are required to submit a cash bond or a manager’s check 10 percent of the total amount of the item he is going to bid for.
Lawyer Roswald Joseph Pague, deputy customs collector, said the owners of the items for auction won't be allowed to participate in the bidding.
"Dili i-allow kay para dili kita maka-set ug precedent for future nga cases like this. We will not allow and tolerate the practice," he said.
The bidding of the items including the luxury cars will take place at the BOC’s Macabalan office.
Pague said the items, with estimated value of P25 million, have been forfeited in favor of the government.
Pague said the proceeds of the auction will added to the monthly income of the district.
Just recently, the BOC-Northern Mindanao’s Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service confiscated P10 million worth of motor vehicle parts from Japan and Korea.
BOC-Northern Mindanao said the truck parts were not properly declared by the importer prompting the agency to put out an alert order and confiscate them.
The bureau has also tapped the assistance of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s K9 unit in inspecting imported cargoes that arrive at the MCT sub-port.
BOC-Northern Mindanao district Collector Ruby Claudia Alameda said the partnership with PDEA is to ensure that the local ports will remain drug-free in line with the anti-narcotics campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte. (With a report from PJ Orias)