Dear Senator Dick Gordon
HARDTOP
By Vernon B. Sarne
BEFORE anything else, let me say here that I voted for you during the last national elections. I was being asked to pick 12 senatorial candidates and had to wrack my brain just to come up with five. I believe it’s grossly criminal on the part of your colleagues to ask Filipinos to cast precious votes in favor of show-business clowns. Please tell them to stick to sitcoms—though that, too, is a monumental case of public disservice.
I’m writing because two weeks ago, you emphatically made my vote count by railing against the unabated importation of used vehicles in the country. You have no idea how special it is for me not to see my vote go to waste. Who can blame me? In all the three presidential elections of my adult life, none of my picks has made it to Malacañang. I don’t know which is more frustrating and infuriating: perpetually tainting your fingernails with indelible ink for losers, or seeing that people around you are all too willing to taint their souls with indelible iniquity for the winners. Ah, but that really is another story.
A copy of your PowerPoint presentation managed to find its way to my mailbox. After reading it, I just had to thank my God for showing me that there are actually leaders in government who possess a rare commodity called rectitude. I believe it’s not exaggerating it one bit to say that most of your fellow lawmakers would not recognize it if it hit them in the face. Never mind asking them to recognize rectitude; just ask them to spell it. Before your presentation, I had been seriously considering moving to the Maldives to work as a lifeguard—except I can’t swim and my beer-sculpted torso would make me sink faster than the person drowning.
I particularly like the way you began your presentation. The first page shouts the word “SMUGGLING” in big, bold letters. You supported this by spelling out Republic Act 8506, Section 1, on the second page, which reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to import, cause the importation of, register, cause the registration of, use or operate any vehicle with its steering wheel on the right-hand side of the vehicle.” You continued by printing Section 1202 of the Tariff and Customs Code on the third page: “Importation begins when the vessel or aircraft enters the jurisdiction of the Philippines with intention to unlade therein. Importation is deemed terminated upon payment of the duties, taxes and other charges due upon the articles.”
Of course, Senator, we both know how lucrative the business of importing used vehicles is, which is why the importers schemed to find a loophole in the law to allow themselves to continue their racket. To digress: I just realized even the average Filipino would make the best lawyer in the world; we just have a knack for circumventing ordinances, don’t you think? Either that or our laws are simply intrinsically flawed to begin with.
Anyway, you reminded everyone—on the fourth page—that the Department of Justice already gave its opinion on the matter in 1999, back when, as you will recall, you had just been unseated as Chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and replaced by an Erap pawn whose only legacy has been to open the gates of Subic to used right-hand-drive vehicles from Japan and sell them to unwitting Filipinos who think these vehicles are a steal. Imported secondhand vehicles are a steal alright—but for the importers, not the buyers. If you can import one of these vehicles for P50,000 and pass it on for P400,000, it has got to be a steal, right? No legitimate carmaker earns even half of that from a brand-new car.
Going back, the DOJ Opinion 101 of 1999 says, “Importation of right-hand-drive vehicles for conversion within the Freeport could be legal—provided that ALL these vehicles are re-exported 100 percent.” I’ve always known these converted vehicles are really for the Philippine market and not for re-exportation. You only have to stand on the sidewalk of Edsa and count the Mitsubishi Delicas and Toyota Hilux Surfs zooming by to confirm this. Just the same, the concrete statistic you provided, Senator, is just the in-your-face proof I had been waiting for. You highlighted that from 2001 to 2003, only 128 cars of the 89,473 imported units were re-exported. Anyone who has access to a calculator will know that it’s not even one percent of the total number! In the words of Chona Chikadora: Amazen’.
Just who are these people, Senator?!? And why don’t they have access to calculators?!?
Even more startling is the way they undervalue the vehicles they import, according to your presentation. A 1990 Delica, for instance, is declared to have a value of just $250 so that its importer would pay only P8,442 in taxes. In reality, you said, the value of the said vehicle should have rightfully been $1,280 and that its importer should have paid P22,555 in taxes. A 2002 Hilux Surf, on the other hand, is declared to have a value of only $860, with just P59,952 in paid taxes. The real figures, you said, should have been a value of $19,519 and paid taxes amounting to P1,284,505.
To make things more interesting, you broke down the selling price of an average used imported vehicle. Total cost: P130,250. Lagay (bribe) per vehicle: P100,000 (P25,000 for SBMA; P25,000 for Customs; P25,000 for the Land Transportation Office; and P25,000 for “The Clan”). Selling price: P350,000. Hence, net profit: P119,750.
No wonder your successor reenacted scenes from Platoon when his camp was trying to unseat you. No wonder the Bureau of Customs can no longer differentiate between smuggling and legitimate importation. No wonder the LTO hoards license plates and generously supplies them to used-vehicle importers when it can’t provide enough license plates to legitimate car companies. And, oh, who are “The Clan”? Were you referring to Mickey Mouse and his Disney friends?
You pointed out that—from 2001 to 2003 alone—government was actually robbed of P12.9 billion in taxes due to the full-scale importation of used vehicles. You reckoned that the amount could have been used to build schools and pay teachers’ wages. Although if you want my honest opinion, Senator, I’m not sure if entrusting P12.9 billion to the Bureau of Internal Revenue is a wise idea in itself.
Finally, I appreciate that you underscored the bottom-line effects of used-vehicle importation. Loss of investments and jobs. A culture of corruption. An atmosphere that is highly detrimental to fiscal and economic welfare. And death of the P68-billion local automotive industry.
On behalf of the 77,000 workers of the Philippine car industry and their families, thank you, Senator Gordon, for running to their defense. On behalf of every Filipino, thank you for stumbling upon a naked truth and mustering the courage to expose it. On behalf of Chona Chikadora, thank you for giving us another reason to say Amazen’.
On a personal note, thank you for honoring my vote.
By Vernon B. Sarne
BEFORE anything else, let me say here that I voted for you during the last national elections. I was being asked to pick 12 senatorial candidates and had to wrack my brain just to come up with five. I believe it’s grossly criminal on the part of your colleagues to ask Filipinos to cast precious votes in favor of show-business clowns. Please tell them to stick to sitcoms—though that, too, is a monumental case of public disservice.
I’m writing because two weeks ago, you emphatically made my vote count by railing against the unabated importation of used vehicles in the country. You have no idea how special it is for me not to see my vote go to waste. Who can blame me? In all the three presidential elections of my adult life, none of my picks has made it to Malacañang. I don’t know which is more frustrating and infuriating: perpetually tainting your fingernails with indelible ink for losers, or seeing that people around you are all too willing to taint their souls with indelible iniquity for the winners. Ah, but that really is another story.
A copy of your PowerPoint presentation managed to find its way to my mailbox. After reading it, I just had to thank my God for showing me that there are actually leaders in government who possess a rare commodity called rectitude. I believe it’s not exaggerating it one bit to say that most of your fellow lawmakers would not recognize it if it hit them in the face. Never mind asking them to recognize rectitude; just ask them to spell it. Before your presentation, I had been seriously considering moving to the Maldives to work as a lifeguard—except I can’t swim and my beer-sculpted torso would make me sink faster than the person drowning.
I particularly like the way you began your presentation. The first page shouts the word “SMUGGLING” in big, bold letters. You supported this by spelling out Republic Act 8506, Section 1, on the second page, which reads: “It shall be unlawful for any person to import, cause the importation of, register, cause the registration of, use or operate any vehicle with its steering wheel on the right-hand side of the vehicle.” You continued by printing Section 1202 of the Tariff and Customs Code on the third page: “Importation begins when the vessel or aircraft enters the jurisdiction of the Philippines with intention to unlade therein. Importation is deemed terminated upon payment of the duties, taxes and other charges due upon the articles.”
Of course, Senator, we both know how lucrative the business of importing used vehicles is, which is why the importers schemed to find a loophole in the law to allow themselves to continue their racket. To digress: I just realized even the average Filipino would make the best lawyer in the world; we just have a knack for circumventing ordinances, don’t you think? Either that or our laws are simply intrinsically flawed to begin with.
Anyway, you reminded everyone—on the fourth page—that the Department of Justice already gave its opinion on the matter in 1999, back when, as you will recall, you had just been unseated as Chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority and replaced by an Erap pawn whose only legacy has been to open the gates of Subic to used right-hand-drive vehicles from Japan and sell them to unwitting Filipinos who think these vehicles are a steal. Imported secondhand vehicles are a steal alright—but for the importers, not the buyers. If you can import one of these vehicles for P50,000 and pass it on for P400,000, it has got to be a steal, right? No legitimate carmaker earns even half of that from a brand-new car.
Going back, the DOJ Opinion 101 of 1999 says, “Importation of right-hand-drive vehicles for conversion within the Freeport could be legal—provided that ALL these vehicles are re-exported 100 percent.” I’ve always known these converted vehicles are really for the Philippine market and not for re-exportation. You only have to stand on the sidewalk of Edsa and count the Mitsubishi Delicas and Toyota Hilux Surfs zooming by to confirm this. Just the same, the concrete statistic you provided, Senator, is just the in-your-face proof I had been waiting for. You highlighted that from 2001 to 2003, only 128 cars of the 89,473 imported units were re-exported. Anyone who has access to a calculator will know that it’s not even one percent of the total number! In the words of Chona Chikadora: Amazen’.
Just who are these people, Senator?!? And why don’t they have access to calculators?!?
Even more startling is the way they undervalue the vehicles they import, according to your presentation. A 1990 Delica, for instance, is declared to have a value of just $250 so that its importer would pay only P8,442 in taxes. In reality, you said, the value of the said vehicle should have rightfully been $1,280 and that its importer should have paid P22,555 in taxes. A 2002 Hilux Surf, on the other hand, is declared to have a value of only $860, with just P59,952 in paid taxes. The real figures, you said, should have been a value of $19,519 and paid taxes amounting to P1,284,505.
To make things more interesting, you broke down the selling price of an average used imported vehicle. Total cost: P130,250. Lagay (bribe) per vehicle: P100,000 (P25,000 for SBMA; P25,000 for Customs; P25,000 for the Land Transportation Office; and P25,000 for “The Clan”). Selling price: P350,000. Hence, net profit: P119,750.
No wonder your successor reenacted scenes from Platoon when his camp was trying to unseat you. No wonder the Bureau of Customs can no longer differentiate between smuggling and legitimate importation. No wonder the LTO hoards license plates and generously supplies them to used-vehicle importers when it can’t provide enough license plates to legitimate car companies. And, oh, who are “The Clan”? Were you referring to Mickey Mouse and his Disney friends?
You pointed out that—from 2001 to 2003 alone—government was actually robbed of P12.9 billion in taxes due to the full-scale importation of used vehicles. You reckoned that the amount could have been used to build schools and pay teachers’ wages. Although if you want my honest opinion, Senator, I’m not sure if entrusting P12.9 billion to the Bureau of Internal Revenue is a wise idea in itself.
Finally, I appreciate that you underscored the bottom-line effects of used-vehicle importation. Loss of investments and jobs. A culture of corruption. An atmosphere that is highly detrimental to fiscal and economic welfare. And death of the P68-billion local automotive industry.
On behalf of the 77,000 workers of the Philippine car industry and their families, thank you, Senator Gordon, for running to their defense. On behalf of every Filipino, thank you for stumbling upon a naked truth and mustering the courage to expose it. On behalf of Chona Chikadora, thank you for giving us another reason to say Amazen’.
On a personal note, thank you for honoring my vote.
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