Lawmakers have demanded an explanation from the Bureau of Customs with regard to the 105 shipping containers that were allegedly illegally released from the premises of Manila South Harbor’s port operator Asian Terminal Inc. were placed under manual alert orders.
At a congressional hearing, Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, chairperson of the House committee on ways and means, inquired from officials of the BoC as to who recommended to BoC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña the issuance of such orders.
“Why manual? Because of this, the image of the Office of the Commissioner was tainted. We would like to know why they issued alert orders manually,” Cua told the BoC officials at a congressional hearing.
The committee conducted the inquiry in response to House Resolution 1824 filed by Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr. seeking the House ways and means committee, and the Oversight Committee on Customs Modernization and Tariff Act to conduct a probe on the possible violations of Republic Act (RA) 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
“While the duties and taxes of the 105 containers have been paid, BoC authorities believed that the declared contents of such containers were grossly undervalued,” said Suansing on the shipments with more than P69 million total amount of duties.
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez expressed dismay over the incident following the P6.4 billion shabu smuggling that happened at the BoC in the past.
BoC Deputy Commissioner Noel Patrick Prudente told lawmakers the alert orders were issued manually because “the response to the lodging of entry was slow”, citing that they processed 6,000 entries a day on average.
But Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay and Suansing found Prudente’s reasoning “unacceptable.”
“It will not even justify because even if its down, even if it is slow, you should not do it manually,” Pichay said.
“I don’t believe what Prudente was telling that the system was slow on all these dates. The 22 alerts corresponding to 105 containers were all manual alerts kung lahat manual alerts, [the next question is] who requested these alert orders? Only Commissioner Lapeña, or his chief of staff Gladys Rosales could answer this,” Suansing said.
“If it was electronic alert, this will not happen,” said Suansing on the manual alerts were issued from January 31 to second week of March 2018.
Lapeña earlier said the 105 shipping containers require examination of the contents before their release.
With the alleged help of brokers and ATI, Lapeña said the officers of the corporations “all connived to secure the release of the containers from ATI premises without the necessary examination.”
Lapeña said that majority of 105 containers covered by the alert order had been released by ATI allegedly without an order that lifted the alert order from the BoC.