Arroyo’s men fight over Subic turf
I-TEAM REPORT: ANTI-SMUGGLING DRIVE
Arroyo’s men fight over Subic turf
By Tonette Orejas Inquirer Central Luzon Desk
Read Part 1: Is there a Palace bagman in Subic?
(Last of two parts)
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT -- Government officials cannot tell, or are silent about, the extent of car smuggling here and the enemies they are battling.
While that is disconcerting enough to the automotive industry, another cause of concern is that these officials are also at odds with one another.
During a visit to this free port in July, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza and retired Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim, SBMA senior deputy for operations, to a meeting.
Joined by Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Ms Arroyo talked to the two executives for over an hour on the issue of car and oil smuggling.
Calimlim admits he has differences with Arreza, a protégé of Sen. Richard Gordon, the first SBMA chair.
The meeting was held after Calimlim complained to Ms Arroyo in April that Arreza took him “out of the loop” in the crackdown on smuggling activities. Calimlim joined the SBMA board in October 2004 while Arreza came a year later.
The only other thing that Calimlim would say of that meeting was that the President “ordered a reversion to the old setup.” That meant his being back as one of three signatories to gate passes for goods that come out of the free port.
Calimlim got his demand. It was the same for the two other officials who Arreza temporarily assigned to other units. Arreza’s two trusted men, Redentor Tuazon and Ferdinand Hernandez, have remained.
Arreza says Tuazon initiated audits on PTT and Tri-Solid, which resulted in the uncovering of substantial volumes of unliquidated oil admissions. Tuazon also exerted “greater scrutiny” on erring car trading companies.
Hernandez, who has a master’s degree in port administration from the University of Wales, was appointed acting deputy administrator for ports in December 2006, “given his track record.”
Last line of defense
Arreza says the gate passes, the SBMA’s last line of defense against smugglers, are now signed by either Calimlim, Hernandez or Capt. Perfecto Pascual, general manager for ports.
“Actual authority rests with General Calimlim as he continues to oversee seaport and airport operations, fire and law enforcement. He may opt to sign all gate passes, if he so pleases,” he says.
Arreza has been quiet on the feud, saying only “the President asked us to work together to combat smuggling outside the free port.”
Smuggling at the Subic Freeport, he says, reached the media’s attention because of the audit efforts by the SBMA and seizures by Calimlim’s Task Force Subic.
Calimlim says Arreza’s new setup, mainly the replacement or introduction of executives, has “polarized people.” He mentions Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., head of the Presidential Anti-smuggling Group and former Trade Secretary Tomas Alcantara.
Calimlim says Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales and Arreza are together.
Alignments
He does not say what caused those alignments or on which side he is on.
Villar is known to be a friend of the President’s youngest brother, Diosdado Macapagal Jr. He came to Subic in July. “I’m just here to carry out the President’s order, to help stop smuggling,” Villar says.
Calimlim, 61, resists the idea of having another task force in his turf. He says Villar cannot unilaterally operate in Subic.
Calimlim admits getting angry when Villar claimed he discovered 25 smuggled cars in 16 overstaying vans in July. He claims credit for the “catch.”
Morales is cynical of task forces.
“You will have the same dog with a different collar. Eventually, they might be vulnerable. It’s all about money,” he says.
Brakes
Despite the squabbles among the President’s men, corrective measures have been put in place, albeit belatedly.
On July 18, Arreza and Morales signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) clarifying or adding operational matters. This MOA came 14 years after then SBMA Chair Richard Gordon and then Customs Commissioner Guillermo Parayno signed a set of rules on how the SBMA and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) would implement and enforce customs laws.
The rules gave the SBMA responsibility for the “operation and management of the fenced area of the former American naval base; the BOC for supervising and administering customs operations involving the admission of articles to the secured area of the zone, the removal of articles from the secured area of the zone.”
The MOA, according to Morales, cures the defects that allow smugglers and their cohorts to cheat on government. Instead of working independently, the customs commissioner and the SBMA administrator created an oversight committee and agreed to exchange “timely information.”
Enforcement controls
“To achieve enforcement controls,” the two agencies shall delineate entry and exit points.
Import permits, said to be the faucet that opened the floodgates of importation or smuggling, shall be now given by the SBMA to the BOC.
Jesus Arranza, Federation of Philippine Industries president, says companies in Subic, as well as at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga, mostly liquidate their importations after five years or not at all.
The release of goods and consumption to the BOC territory shall be covered by delivery permit. This should be attached to the gate passes issued “concurrently” by the BOC and the SBMA.
The MOA states that the SBMA and the BOC shall “strictly impose” on the locators an “annual inventory, reconciliation, reportorial and audit requirements” as required in CAO No. 4-93.
Improved procedures
The SBMA has applied “improved procedures” to monitor the movement of imported motor vehicles.
These include requiring importers to identify the make and model, hiring additional auditors to reconcile liquidation reports and books of the locators against the SBMA’s import-export records, conducting physical inventory on warehouses, and accessing the seaport department’s records of gate passes to eliminate spurious or recycled gate passes attached to liquidation reports.
The seaport department has also required the submission of the Value Reference Information System (VRIS) clearance from the BOC before the SBMA issues any gate pass. This step will check if the BOC correctly assessed the tax values and collected these for the government.
Arranza says the anti-smuggling drive should not only protect the automotive industry but also the entire domestic market.
Arroyo’s men fight over Subic turf
By Tonette Orejas Inquirer Central Luzon Desk
Read Part 1: Is there a Palace bagman in Subic?
(Last of two parts)
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT -- Government officials cannot tell, or are silent about, the extent of car smuggling here and the enemies they are battling.
While that is disconcerting enough to the automotive industry, another cause of concern is that these officials are also at odds with one another.
During a visit to this free port in July, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Administrator Armand Arreza and retired Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim, SBMA senior deputy for operations, to a meeting.
Joined by Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Ms Arroyo talked to the two executives for over an hour on the issue of car and oil smuggling.
Calimlim admits he has differences with Arreza, a protégé of Sen. Richard Gordon, the first SBMA chair.
The meeting was held after Calimlim complained to Ms Arroyo in April that Arreza took him “out of the loop” in the crackdown on smuggling activities. Calimlim joined the SBMA board in October 2004 while Arreza came a year later.
The only other thing that Calimlim would say of that meeting was that the President “ordered a reversion to the old setup.” That meant his being back as one of three signatories to gate passes for goods that come out of the free port.
Calimlim got his demand. It was the same for the two other officials who Arreza temporarily assigned to other units. Arreza’s two trusted men, Redentor Tuazon and Ferdinand Hernandez, have remained.
Arreza says Tuazon initiated audits on PTT and Tri-Solid, which resulted in the uncovering of substantial volumes of unliquidated oil admissions. Tuazon also exerted “greater scrutiny” on erring car trading companies.
Hernandez, who has a master’s degree in port administration from the University of Wales, was appointed acting deputy administrator for ports in December 2006, “given his track record.”
Last line of defense
Arreza says the gate passes, the SBMA’s last line of defense against smugglers, are now signed by either Calimlim, Hernandez or Capt. Perfecto Pascual, general manager for ports.
“Actual authority rests with General Calimlim as he continues to oversee seaport and airport operations, fire and law enforcement. He may opt to sign all gate passes, if he so pleases,” he says.
Arreza has been quiet on the feud, saying only “the President asked us to work together to combat smuggling outside the free port.”
Smuggling at the Subic Freeport, he says, reached the media’s attention because of the audit efforts by the SBMA and seizures by Calimlim’s Task Force Subic.
Calimlim says Arreza’s new setup, mainly the replacement or introduction of executives, has “polarized people.” He mentions Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr., head of the Presidential Anti-smuggling Group and former Trade Secretary Tomas Alcantara.
Calimlim says Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales and Arreza are together.
Alignments
He does not say what caused those alignments or on which side he is on.
Villar is known to be a friend of the President’s youngest brother, Diosdado Macapagal Jr. He came to Subic in July. “I’m just here to carry out the President’s order, to help stop smuggling,” Villar says.
Calimlim, 61, resists the idea of having another task force in his turf. He says Villar cannot unilaterally operate in Subic.
Calimlim admits getting angry when Villar claimed he discovered 25 smuggled cars in 16 overstaying vans in July. He claims credit for the “catch.”
Morales is cynical of task forces.
“You will have the same dog with a different collar. Eventually, they might be vulnerable. It’s all about money,” he says.
Brakes
Despite the squabbles among the President’s men, corrective measures have been put in place, albeit belatedly.
On July 18, Arreza and Morales signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) clarifying or adding operational matters. This MOA came 14 years after then SBMA Chair Richard Gordon and then Customs Commissioner Guillermo Parayno signed a set of rules on how the SBMA and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) would implement and enforce customs laws.
The rules gave the SBMA responsibility for the “operation and management of the fenced area of the former American naval base; the BOC for supervising and administering customs operations involving the admission of articles to the secured area of the zone, the removal of articles from the secured area of the zone.”
The MOA, according to Morales, cures the defects that allow smugglers and their cohorts to cheat on government. Instead of working independently, the customs commissioner and the SBMA administrator created an oversight committee and agreed to exchange “timely information.”
Enforcement controls
“To achieve enforcement controls,” the two agencies shall delineate entry and exit points.
Import permits, said to be the faucet that opened the floodgates of importation or smuggling, shall be now given by the SBMA to the BOC.
Jesus Arranza, Federation of Philippine Industries president, says companies in Subic, as well as at the Clark Freeport in Pampanga, mostly liquidate their importations after five years or not at all.
The release of goods and consumption to the BOC territory shall be covered by delivery permit. This should be attached to the gate passes issued “concurrently” by the BOC and the SBMA.
The MOA states that the SBMA and the BOC shall “strictly impose” on the locators an “annual inventory, reconciliation, reportorial and audit requirements” as required in CAO No. 4-93.
Improved procedures
The SBMA has applied “improved procedures” to monitor the movement of imported motor vehicles.
These include requiring importers to identify the make and model, hiring additional auditors to reconcile liquidation reports and books of the locators against the SBMA’s import-export records, conducting physical inventory on warehouses, and accessing the seaport department’s records of gate passes to eliminate spurious or recycled gate passes attached to liquidation reports.
The seaport department has also required the submission of the Value Reference Information System (VRIS) clearance from the BOC before the SBMA issues any gate pass. This step will check if the BOC correctly assessed the tax values and collected these for the government.
Arranza says the anti-smuggling drive should not only protect the automotive industry but also the entire domestic market.
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