8 Discaya cars have no customs records, 7 others untaxed–BOC
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said on Wednesday that eight luxury cars owned by the family of contractor Sarah Discaya have no records in the agency and may have been smuggled.
In a press conference, Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the eight out of the 30 luxury cars under the custody of the agency have no import entry documents and certificates of payment.
Asked if the cars may be considered smuggled, Nepomuceno said in Filipino: “That is the assumption. There are no documents, that’s why that’s our assumption.”
BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla noted that there are many possibilities on how the cars were imported.
“We will see the complete picture once we get to the next phase of the investigation,” Maronilla said.
Nepomuceno also noted that seven other high-end vehicles of the Discayas have no certificates of payment despite having import entry documents.
He said the consignees and the owners of the 15 vehicles were given 15 days to present proof that these were legitimately purchased.
If no proof is presented after 15 days, Nepomuceno said the BOC will issue a warrant of seizure and detention to take physical possession of the vehicles for violating customs laws.
“At this point, it seems that it will lead to that. We are just giving the opportunity to the consignees and owners [to explain],” Nepomuceno noted.
Nepomuceno said the 14 other cars with import entry records and certificates of payment will still be subject to postclearance assessment even if they came from authorized car dealers.
Connivance
Nepomuceno said the Discaya luxury cars with papers entered through the following ports: five in Batangas; three in Cebu; three in the Port of Manila, and seven in the Manila International Container port.
The port of entry of the eight cars with no BOC records remains unknown.
Nepomuceno said more than 10 BOC personnel tagged as persons of interest will also be asked to explain how some Discaya-owned luxury cars were cleared at the customs without proper documents.
“We will issue show-cause orders for them to explain what happened, and then start an investigation,” Nepomuceno added.
He said that they included appraisers, examiners, and division heads from the ports in Batangas, Cebu, Manila, and the Manila International Container Terminal.
Nepomuceno assured the public that the BOC personnel will be held liable once proven that they were responsible for clearing the luxury cars despite having no proper records.
The BOC initially secured 12 luxury cars on Tuesday last week through a search warrant at the compound of St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp. in Pasig City. The family surrendered 16 additional vehicles two days later.
Nepomuceno said the agency would also investigate the purchase of luxury cars of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) employees.
Rapid expansion
Dismissed Bulacan first district engineer Henry Alcantara and former Bulacan First District Engineering Office assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez previously admitted to owning luxury cars.
The Discayas posted exponential growth of their nine-company empire starting in 2017, the first full year of the Duterte administration, according to Deputy Speaker and Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin.
During the House infra committee’s second hearing into anomalous flood control projects, Garin cited data based on the Discaya firms’ financial statements showing that they hit their first P1-billion gross revenue in 2017, or some three years after they first ventured into government projects.
Citing Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents, Garin said the firms collectively posted P99 million in revenue in 2016, which then grew to P1.03 billion or by a staggering 942 percent, in 2017.
By 2018, the empire’s revenue reached P12.05 billion, or 1,065 percent higher than 2017. The empire has since seen a steady growth even during the Covid-19 years (2020-2022), when it was still recording 11-digit gross revenues.
Based on the SEC records, the firms posted their highest revenue in 2022 at P20.5 billion. —WITH A REPORT FROM KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING
