We’re just fall guys, Customs-Subic men say
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – Five of the six personnel of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) charged before the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the smuggling of 14 luxury vehicles said Friday that they were set up to take the blame for others who are “high up” in the office hierarchy.
“We feel that we’re just fall guys here to save the necks of those who are really involved in this anomaly,” said Enrico Cruz, a customs examiner who was among those charged for the smuggling of luxury cars.
“We’re just the small fry here,” Cruz said. “And how come they have filed a case against us when there is still an ongoing investigation by the Internal Inquiry Prosecution Division (IIPD) of the Bureau of Customs central office?” he asked.
“We received only one memo asking us for our explanation, and after that no hearing or investigation has been made,” Cruz added.
The Department of Finance (DOF) filed charges the other day against Cruz, customs examiners Orlando Ronquillo and Rustico Mallari, customs appraisers Rodolfo Casis and Ibrahim Pangakatan, and Josephine Dullas, chief of the Certificate of Payment Unit in Subic.
According to the DOF Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), the six employees conspired with one another to release some P37-million worth of luxury vehicles without proper taxes.
The vehicles included four BMW 750Li sedans, a Chevrolet Corvette, two Honda Acura, three Audi A8Ls, a Nissan Armada, a Mazda Infiniti, and two Cadillac Escalades.
The DOF said the Subic customs personnel labeled the cars as second-hand vehicles worth a total of less than P1 million. The vehicles were actually worth close to P40 million, it added.
Cruz claimed, however, that somebody faked his signature and those of his fellow accused in the BOC amendment documents that were submitted to have the luxury cars registered at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
He added that he and his co-accused had secured a certification from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) attesting that the agency has not yet issued gate passes for the vehicles in question.
Perfecto Pascual, general manager of the SBMA Seaport, supposedly signed the certificate.
On this issue, Lito Calingo, the LTO registrar in Subic, said that the LTO regional office in San Fernando, Pampanga require importers to first secure a Certificate of Stock Report (CSR) for comparison with the certificate of payment data entry and stencil report.
In case of discrepancies, the importer will be asked to secure a request for amendment and a CSR from the LTO regional office.
With the CSR from LTO Central Luzon office, the Subic LTO office would still require a certified true copy of the Certificate of Payment Unit (CPU) from the Subic BOC office before the vehicle is accepted for registration, Calingo explained.
One of the accused, Rodolfo Casis, also told The STAR that as customs examiners and appraisers in Subic, they simply received from the Entry Processing Unit (EPU) the BOC Import Entry and Revenue Declaration form for examination.
“After we made the initial examination, the importer brings the document to the office of the BOC Commissioner for the Value Reference Information System Clearance (VRISC). After the VRISC evaluation, the document is supposed to be brought back to the Subic BOC’s assessment office,” Casis said.
In the case of the 14 luxury cars, Casis said, the documents “did not go back to our office for final processing.”
Another of the accused, Rustico Mallari, lamented that they were “pre-judged” when the DOF filed charges against the six Subic personnel.
“This is unfair to us,” Mallari said. “The investigation by the BOC, which is our unit, has not yet been completed, and yet here is the Department of Finance already filing charges against us,” he said.
“The way we see it, there is no due process because there is no hearing yet,” he added.
Meanwhile, sources at the Subic Customs office revealed to The STAR that one of the accused who has recently been transferred to the Customs central office has been replaced by a mere storekeeper, pointing out that such replacement may result in improper “procedures” in the Subic office.
The sources said that Josephine Dullas, the former chief of the Certificate of Payment Unit here, is now with the BOC’s Human Resource Management Department in Manila.
However, she has been replaced by one Belma Limbaga, a storekeeper with salary grade 9, who has lately been assigned the task of issuing gate passes for vehicle imports. By BEBOT SISON JR. - The Philippine Star
“We feel that we’re just fall guys here to save the necks of those who are really involved in this anomaly,” said Enrico Cruz, a customs examiner who was among those charged for the smuggling of luxury cars.
“We’re just the small fry here,” Cruz said. “And how come they have filed a case against us when there is still an ongoing investigation by the Internal Inquiry Prosecution Division (IIPD) of the Bureau of Customs central office?” he asked.
“We received only one memo asking us for our explanation, and after that no hearing or investigation has been made,” Cruz added.
The Department of Finance (DOF) filed charges the other day against Cruz, customs examiners Orlando Ronquillo and Rustico Mallari, customs appraisers Rodolfo Casis and Ibrahim Pangakatan, and Josephine Dullas, chief of the Certificate of Payment Unit in Subic.
According to the DOF Revenue Integrity Protection Service (RIPS), the six employees conspired with one another to release some P37-million worth of luxury vehicles without proper taxes.
The vehicles included four BMW 750Li sedans, a Chevrolet Corvette, two Honda Acura, three Audi A8Ls, a Nissan Armada, a Mazda Infiniti, and two Cadillac Escalades.
The DOF said the Subic customs personnel labeled the cars as second-hand vehicles worth a total of less than P1 million. The vehicles were actually worth close to P40 million, it added.
Cruz claimed, however, that somebody faked his signature and those of his fellow accused in the BOC amendment documents that were submitted to have the luxury cars registered at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
He added that he and his co-accused had secured a certification from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) attesting that the agency has not yet issued gate passes for the vehicles in question.
Perfecto Pascual, general manager of the SBMA Seaport, supposedly signed the certificate.
On this issue, Lito Calingo, the LTO registrar in Subic, said that the LTO regional office in San Fernando, Pampanga require importers to first secure a Certificate of Stock Report (CSR) for comparison with the certificate of payment data entry and stencil report.
In case of discrepancies, the importer will be asked to secure a request for amendment and a CSR from the LTO regional office.
With the CSR from LTO Central Luzon office, the Subic LTO office would still require a certified true copy of the Certificate of Payment Unit (CPU) from the Subic BOC office before the vehicle is accepted for registration, Calingo explained.
One of the accused, Rodolfo Casis, also told The STAR that as customs examiners and appraisers in Subic, they simply received from the Entry Processing Unit (EPU) the BOC Import Entry and Revenue Declaration form for examination.
“After we made the initial examination, the importer brings the document to the office of the BOC Commissioner for the Value Reference Information System Clearance (VRISC). After the VRISC evaluation, the document is supposed to be brought back to the Subic BOC’s assessment office,” Casis said.
In the case of the 14 luxury cars, Casis said, the documents “did not go back to our office for final processing.”
Another of the accused, Rustico Mallari, lamented that they were “pre-judged” when the DOF filed charges against the six Subic personnel.
“This is unfair to us,” Mallari said. “The investigation by the BOC, which is our unit, has not yet been completed, and yet here is the Department of Finance already filing charges against us,” he said.
“The way we see it, there is no due process because there is no hearing yet,” he added.
Meanwhile, sources at the Subic Customs office revealed to The STAR that one of the accused who has recently been transferred to the Customs central office has been replaced by a mere storekeeper, pointing out that such replacement may result in improper “procedures” in the Subic office.
The sources said that Josephine Dullas, the former chief of the Certificate of Payment Unit here, is now with the BOC’s Human Resource Management Department in Manila.
However, she has been replaced by one Belma Limbaga, a storekeeper with salary grade 9, who has lately been assigned the task of issuing gate passes for vehicle imports. By BEBOT SISON JR. - The Philippine Star
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