Subic Freeport more than just a smugglers’ haven
By Patrick Roxas, Manila Times Central Luzon Bureau
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT: Subic should not be seen merely as a smuggling haven but should be promoted as a freeport and a regional business hub as mandated in its charter, a top official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said.
Retired Gen. Jose Calimlim, SBMA senior deputy administrator for operations and member of the SBMA board, said the Subic Freeport is doing well overall with locators reporting increased revenues and more tourists flocking to the former US naval base.
“What is always being highlighted is Subic as a center of smuggling. They are forgetting that big multinational firms are also located in Subic manufacturing products for export,” Calimlim told journalists during the “Usaping Balita Media Forum” at the Subic Bay Yacht Club.
“There is this image of Subic as a smuggling haven because of the importation of right-hand drive vehicles and that here are motor shops and garage in each and every corner of this place,” Calimlim, who is also the head of interagency Task Force Subic, an antismuggling body.
While admitting that smuggling has become a controversial issue in the Freeport, Calimlim said the SBMA remains focused on attracting local and foreign investments, creating employment and generating economic activity.
“As far as the SBMA is concerned, we believe Executive Order 156 which allows Subic locators to import vehicles, except SUVs and passenger vans, should prevail over Customs Memorandum Order 16-2005 which prohibits all shipping lines, airlines and other common carriers to strictly observe and enforce the ban on importation of all vehicles,” Calimlim said.
Calimlim added that the SBMA has no control over the importation of second-hand vehicles but it is trying to clarify what policy to enforce.
Calimlim said the mandate of SBMA is clearly defined in its charter but the problem is in the interpretation of the law as many gray areas are being exploited.
“The clarification on all these issues should come soon but in the meantime, the SBMA maintains E.O. 156 should prevail over the order of the Custom’s commissioner,” Calimlim said.
Importers of second-hand vehicles who were present during the media forum claimed that E.O. 156 and CMO 16-2005 are inconsistent with each other and that another executive order, E.O. 418, putting an additional tax of P500,000 a unit of imported vehicle, is practically killing the business.
“E.O. 418 is not designed just to collect additional taxes but to stop the importation business of second-hand vehicles,” Peter Geroue, president of the Subic-based Motor Vehicle Importers Association, said.
Jaime Vicente, secretary general of the Automotive Rebuilding Industries of Subic, another second-hand vehicle importer, told the media during the forum the local manufacturers’ complaint that the importation of second-hand vehicles through Subic is affecting their sales is not true, as the sales of second-hand vehicles, particularly from Subic, was only small compared to the sales made by local automotive manufacturers last year.
“There is a huge potential demand for vehicles, especially for affordable ones, and we are simply trying to fill that gap,” Vicente said.
He added that the safety concerns of their critics are being addressed, as each second-hand unit goes through a rigid quality inspection by the concerned government agency before it is sold to the public.
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT: Subic should not be seen merely as a smuggling haven but should be promoted as a freeport and a regional business hub as mandated in its charter, a top official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority said.
Retired Gen. Jose Calimlim, SBMA senior deputy administrator for operations and member of the SBMA board, said the Subic Freeport is doing well overall with locators reporting increased revenues and more tourists flocking to the former US naval base.
“What is always being highlighted is Subic as a center of smuggling. They are forgetting that big multinational firms are also located in Subic manufacturing products for export,” Calimlim told journalists during the “Usaping Balita Media Forum” at the Subic Bay Yacht Club.
“There is this image of Subic as a smuggling haven because of the importation of right-hand drive vehicles and that here are motor shops and garage in each and every corner of this place,” Calimlim, who is also the head of interagency Task Force Subic, an antismuggling body.
While admitting that smuggling has become a controversial issue in the Freeport, Calimlim said the SBMA remains focused on attracting local and foreign investments, creating employment and generating economic activity.
“As far as the SBMA is concerned, we believe Executive Order 156 which allows Subic locators to import vehicles, except SUVs and passenger vans, should prevail over Customs Memorandum Order 16-2005 which prohibits all shipping lines, airlines and other common carriers to strictly observe and enforce the ban on importation of all vehicles,” Calimlim said.
Calimlim added that the SBMA has no control over the importation of second-hand vehicles but it is trying to clarify what policy to enforce.
Calimlim said the mandate of SBMA is clearly defined in its charter but the problem is in the interpretation of the law as many gray areas are being exploited.
“The clarification on all these issues should come soon but in the meantime, the SBMA maintains E.O. 156 should prevail over the order of the Custom’s commissioner,” Calimlim said.
Importers of second-hand vehicles who were present during the media forum claimed that E.O. 156 and CMO 16-2005 are inconsistent with each other and that another executive order, E.O. 418, putting an additional tax of P500,000 a unit of imported vehicle, is practically killing the business.
“E.O. 418 is not designed just to collect additional taxes but to stop the importation business of second-hand vehicles,” Peter Geroue, president of the Subic-based Motor Vehicle Importers Association, said.
Jaime Vicente, secretary general of the Automotive Rebuilding Industries of Subic, another second-hand vehicle importer, told the media during the forum the local manufacturers’ complaint that the importation of second-hand vehicles through Subic is affecting their sales is not true, as the sales of second-hand vehicles, particularly from Subic, was only small compared to the sales made by local automotive manufacturers last year.
“There is a huge potential demand for vehicles, especially for affordable ones, and we are simply trying to fill that gap,” Vicente said.
He added that the safety concerns of their critics are being addressed, as each second-hand unit goes through a rigid quality inspection by the concerned government agency before it is sold to the public.
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