Philippines President to Crush Smuggled Ferrari

Crush seized Porsches, Ferraris, BMWs, Arroyo orders

By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Inquirer
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=81981

Posted date: August 12, 2007

MANILA, Philippines—Gleaming BMWs, Lambhorginis, Ferraris, Porsches and other very expensive luxury cars most Filipinos can only dream of owning will be destroyed to show the government is serious about stopping the smuggling of cars into the country.

After presiding over a command conference at the Bureau of Customs on Friday, Ms Arroyo ordered the destruction of the cars valued at just under P100 million next week, Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said over Radyo ng Bayan yesterday.

Remonde said the President ordered a stop to the old customs practice of auctioning off smuggled cars since these usually ended up being bought by the smugglers.

“When you put these cars to auction, the buyers are the smugglers themselves. The President wants the smugglers to lose their funds and send a strong signal against smuggling,” Remonde said.

Done on nationwide TV

He said the President wanted the demolition done on nationwide TV to ensure the vehicles were destroyed and to drive the message home. He said the demolition might take place in Clark, Pampanga, when the President goes there on Thursday. The cars are at Subic Freeport some 60 km away.

“Dadaanan ng pison o babagsakan ng container van (They will be crushed with a steam roller or container van),” Remonde said of the manner of the cars’ destruction.

He said the luxury cars were seized by the newly created Presidential Anti-Smuggling Task Force (PASTF) headed by Antonio “Bebot” Villar, former mayor of Sto. Tomas, Pangasinan.

Villar, in a phone interview with the Inquirer, confirmed the cars would be destroyed on the President’s orders.

“Sabi ni Presidente, durugin na yan. Galit na galit si Ma’am (The President said ‘crush them.’ She was really angry),” Villar said.

He said the cars were a Ferrari, Lambhorgini, Porsche Carrera, Porsche Cayenne and BMW, with an average cost of P18 million apiece.

Villar said that aside from the five cars, there were 15 more high-end automobiles that might be destroyed at the same time. He said all the cars were smuggled in through Subic.

He said 25 more container vans at Subic were suspected of holding smuggled cars. He said a container van could hold two cars.

He said another port where the smuggling of cars and other items was rampant was Cebu.

Villar was appointed PASTF head on June 22 when the agency was created.

‘Judas’ in customs

He said it appeared some BOC employees were in cahoots with the smugglers.

Villar recalled that raids of seven luxury car exchanges in Metro Manila suspected of selling smuggled cars came up empty after the hot cars suddenly disappeared.

“I told (Customs Commissioner Napoleon) Morales there was a ‘Judas’ in customs,” Villar said.

On another matter, Villar objected to the memorandum of agreement between the BOC and the Land Transportation Office creating a one-stop shop and which requires a second clearance from the BOC before the LTO could register an imported car.

“These cars had been released by customs. Now they will return these to customs as a one-stop shop. Panibagong lagay na naman yan(That’ll be another source of corruption),” Villar said.

He then suggested a third party monitor the transactions, whereupon President Arroyo ordered the PASTF to be part of the process.

Villar said he had received death threats because of his anti-smuggling efforts.