Berroya linked to smuggling ‘scam’

A House committee investigation has yielded information linking Reynaldo Berroya, assistant transportation and communications secretary and former Land Transportation Office head, to questionable registrations of smuggled vehicles.

Wednesday’s hearing of the House committee on good government led to information linking Berroya to the issuance of license plates from the LTO central office in Quezon City to imported high-end vehicles that entered the country through Cebu City.

Berroya’s alleged involvement was mentioned in an LTO report submitted to the committee. While the report cleared Berroya of wrongdoing, Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said he should still be investigated.

“My theory is that the smuggling of cars in Cebu is related to top officials in Metro Manila,” Casiño said.

According to Assistant Secretary Alberto Suansing, current LTO chief, many of the 6,000 imported vehicles that were registered in Toledo City had deficient certificates of payments of customs duties.

Suansing said a common violation was customs failing to transmit directly to the LTO the certificates of duty payments for these vehicles.

He said some registration papers were covered with fake certificates of payment and, in some cases, the certificates were “either missing or apparently spurious.”

Casiño brought to the committee’s attention the 40 imported high-end vehicles that were registered in Cebu but were given license plates from Metro Manila.

The LTO report said Honorio Quiambao, head of the LTO Diliman District Office, pointed to Berroya as the one who approved the issuance of Metro Manila license plates to cars registered in Cebu.

Casiño also quoted Quiambao as saying liaison officers of car importers were the ones following up the release of Metro Manila plates for Cebu-registered cars.

The LTO report said the issuance of Metro Manila plates to Cebu-registered vehicles could be one way of evading traffic enforcers who had the “propensity to flag down motor vehicles with plate numbers from Central Visayas.”

All that car owners from Cebu had to do, the report said, was to request the LTO central office for license plates from Metro Manila.

The report also quoted Quiambao as saying that on some of the requests, Berroya wrote “FA/A,” or “for appropriate action.” It quoted Quiambao as saying it meant the request was “as good as approved.”

Meanwhile, congressmen issued a subpoena on Wednesday to the head of an anti-smuggling task force that seized a car belonging to a legislator.

The House committee on good government voted unanimously to force the appearance of Undersecretary Antonio Villar, head of the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), who failed to attend committee hearings four times.

Members of the committee, including Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara, threatened to cite Villar in contempt and have him arrested should he fail to attend the next hearing.

Bichara owns a car that the PASG seized in a Makati auto shop recently on suspicion this was smuggled.

Rep. Mitos Magsaysay of Zambales confronted Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales with some questions regarding the functions of PASG.

Some committee members also forced Morales to reveal the alleged car smugglers in Cebu.

But Morales could not name anyone, except for mentioning the alleged “delinquent importers” who usually misdeclared their shipments.

Morales just mentioned the consignees of the recent confiscation of at least 32 hot cars in Cebu.

The hearing started at 9:30 a.m. and ended at past 2 p.m.

The LTO has also expanded its probe on questionable registrations of motor vehicles to include some areas in Mindanao.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Suansing said they found several documents showing that cars stolen in Metro Manila were registered in Cotabato City.

Suansing said investigators needed more time to consolidate all evidence against erring LTO officials and personnel since the irregular transactions appeared “widespread.”

Suansing earlier said he submitted to Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza his report on the investigation of alleged irregularities in the registration of smuggled and stolen vehicles in Cebu.

In his report to Mendoza, Suansing recommended the dismissal of some LTO officials allegedly involved in the irregularities.

But, due to more findings of irregularities in other areas, Suansing said his office would have to consolidate the results of all investigations to include officials from other LTO offices. /Correspondents Jolene R. Bulambot, Jhunnex Napallacan and Chris A. Ligan; with Inquirer reports - Cebu Daily News