Auction off the luxury cars
FROM THE SIDELINES
By Alfredo G. Rosario - Manila Times
The government’s decision last week to destroy 18 smuggled luxury vehicles in Subic was ill-considered, to say the least. It was driven more by passion than by reason.
In ordering the destruction of the cars, the government said it wanted to “send a strong signal” that it would not condone smuggling in any form. But the most eloquent demonstration of political will against smuggling is to prosecute the perpetrators and send them behind bars.
It is plain folly to destroy the evidence of a crime, in this case the expensive flashy cars, to show contempt for smuggling but allowing the smugglers to go scot-free by destroying the proof against them.
It is no different from someone destroying a stolen bicycle in a display of righteous rage but failing to go after the thief. Or from killing a child born out of rape in a fit of fury but forgetting his foremost duty to catch the rapist and make him pay for his dastardly crime.
It is the bounden duty of the government to ferret out the car smugglers and throw them in jail. That is its strongest proof it is dead serious in eradicating smuggling.
As monstrous machines crushed the 18 smuggled cars with thunder blows on that eventful day, we saw on TV poignant images of school buildings being destroyed by a raging typhoon. In another instant, we saw scenes of MMDA men tearing down squatters’ houses located at esteros in Makati City, paying no heed to pleas of families to put off the demolition to give them time to look for shelter elsewhere.
The squatters whose homes were destroyed by the MMDA were literally left in the cold, with no place to go to at the height of a storm. With school buildings blown down, several school children had to hold classes in makeshift shelters when the weather cleared up.
If the crushed smuggled cars were spared and sold at auction, the government could have generated funds to build resettlement centers for those who lost their homes either in the storm or by MMDA’s heartless demolition. It could have found funds for school buildings to replace those damaged by the typhoon.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the government lost P30 million in auction revenues and P10 million in taxes with the destruction of the 18 luxury cars. If they were sold at auction, the government could have saved that much money for the construction of urgently needed resettlement centers for homeless folk and some classrooms.
With the MMDA’s bookish policy of tearing down squatters’ houses at esteros even during a storm, there is an imperative need for constructing permanent resettlement centers in Metro Manila and other areas often hit by floods and landslides.
There are other high-end smuggled vehicles worth about P100 million waiting to be destroyed. The government believes that by auctioning them off, the smugglers may find the chance to possess them back through paid proxies.
We find no problem with that as long as the government gets the true value of the cars plus the payment of correct taxes and duties. We can still go after the smugglers by building an airtight case against them and sending them to jail.
We understand the government’s concern over rampant smuggling at the Subic Free Zone. Thousands of luxury vehicles have been smuggled through the free zone with the connivance of some officials and employees.
Get rid of the scalawags in the free port by filing cases against them, together with the smugglers.
Prometheus gave us the gift of light to make us right-thinking and reasoning human beings. Whatever we do, we should be guided by that light so that we can see what is best for our people, particularly the poor.
By Alfredo G. Rosario - Manila Times
The government’s decision last week to destroy 18 smuggled luxury vehicles in Subic was ill-considered, to say the least. It was driven more by passion than by reason.
In ordering the destruction of the cars, the government said it wanted to “send a strong signal” that it would not condone smuggling in any form. But the most eloquent demonstration of political will against smuggling is to prosecute the perpetrators and send them behind bars.
It is plain folly to destroy the evidence of a crime, in this case the expensive flashy cars, to show contempt for smuggling but allowing the smugglers to go scot-free by destroying the proof against them.
It is no different from someone destroying a stolen bicycle in a display of righteous rage but failing to go after the thief. Or from killing a child born out of rape in a fit of fury but forgetting his foremost duty to catch the rapist and make him pay for his dastardly crime.
It is the bounden duty of the government to ferret out the car smugglers and throw them in jail. That is its strongest proof it is dead serious in eradicating smuggling.
As monstrous machines crushed the 18 smuggled cars with thunder blows on that eventful day, we saw on TV poignant images of school buildings being destroyed by a raging typhoon. In another instant, we saw scenes of MMDA men tearing down squatters’ houses located at esteros in Makati City, paying no heed to pleas of families to put off the demolition to give them time to look for shelter elsewhere.
The squatters whose homes were destroyed by the MMDA were literally left in the cold, with no place to go to at the height of a storm. With school buildings blown down, several school children had to hold classes in makeshift shelters when the weather cleared up.
If the crushed smuggled cars were spared and sold at auction, the government could have generated funds to build resettlement centers for those who lost their homes either in the storm or by MMDA’s heartless demolition. It could have found funds for school buildings to replace those damaged by the typhoon.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said the government lost P30 million in auction revenues and P10 million in taxes with the destruction of the 18 luxury cars. If they were sold at auction, the government could have saved that much money for the construction of urgently needed resettlement centers for homeless folk and some classrooms.
With the MMDA’s bookish policy of tearing down squatters’ houses at esteros even during a storm, there is an imperative need for constructing permanent resettlement centers in Metro Manila and other areas often hit by floods and landslides.
There are other high-end smuggled vehicles worth about P100 million waiting to be destroyed. The government believes that by auctioning them off, the smugglers may find the chance to possess them back through paid proxies.
We find no problem with that as long as the government gets the true value of the cars plus the payment of correct taxes and duties. We can still go after the smugglers by building an airtight case against them and sending them to jail.
We understand the government’s concern over rampant smuggling at the Subic Free Zone. Thousands of luxury vehicles have been smuggled through the free zone with the connivance of some officials and employees.
Get rid of the scalawags in the free port by filing cases against them, together with the smugglers.
Prometheus gave us the gift of light to make us right-thinking and reasoning human beings. Whatever we do, we should be guided by that light so that we can see what is best for our people, particularly the poor.
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
10:32 AM
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