5 importers, brokers of ukay-ukay, cigarettes, agri products face smuggling raps

The Bureau of Customs on Friday filed five smuggling complaints before the Department of Justice against five importers and brokers of ukay-ukay, cigarettes and agricultural products.

JJTS International Trading, Gandar International Import and Export Trading, Proline Logistics Phils., Inc., ZJDP Trading, and Paragon Platinum International Trading Corp. are facing raps for violation of Section 1400, Section 1401, and Section 117 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, Republic Act 4653 otherwise known as “An Act To Safeguard The Health of the People and Maintain the Dignity of the Nation By Declaring It a National Policy to Prohibit the Commercial Importation of Textile Articles Commonly Known as Used Clothing and Rags”, and Article 171 and 172 of the Revised Penal Code, the BOC said in a press release issued Sunday.

According to the BOC, Emelita P. Peralta and licensed customs broker Toni Rose Amoyen of JJTS International Trading misdeclared its imports of five shipments from Quanshou, China of fabrics, tissue and onions on September 26, 2017 at the Manila International Container Port.

The total shipment was found to be valued at P8,614,730, with duties and taxes pegged at more than P4 million.

Theng Mino Gandar, owner of Gandar International Import and Export Trading, and licensed customs broker Toni Rose L. Amoyen were tagged for facilitating and importing ukay-ukay clothes, rice, shoes and suspension arm from China which were misdeclared. 

This shipment which arrived on September 20, 2017 at the MICP is valued at more than P6 million with duties and taxes assessed at more than P3 million.

The officials of Proline Logistics Phils., Inc., meanwhile, namely Wilma Bautista, president and general manager; Catherine Garcia, vice president; Hubert Bautista, secretary and major stockholder; Julius Cesar Pelino Jr., import staff and major stockholder; Rocky Dorado, major stockholder; and Salvador Labiano Jr., licensed customs broker, are facing charges for the illegal importation of ukay-ukay used clothes from Hong Kong.

Valued at more than P2 million, the shipment arrived on February 27, 2018.

Meanwhile, the BOC said Zara Jane Dizon Panganiban, owner of ZJDP Trading, imported three containers of onions and potatoes from China without securing a phytosanitary permit from the Department of Agriculture.

The shipment, valued at P3,949,819.99, has been assessed for duties and taxes amounting to more than P1 million. It arrived on August 22, 2017.

A criminal complaint for cigarette smuggling, on the other hand, was filed by the BOC against Paragon Platinum International Trading Corporation's proprietor Erin Jorge T. Sumile and broker Bernadine Miranda.

The company was one of the consignees of the 105 containers illegally released at the Port of Manila on February 21, 2018.

Paragon Platinum is also facing a separate criminal complaint filed by BOC for the illegal release of containers last April.

BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapena through the Bureau's Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS) said that to date, they have already filed 30 cases in 2018 against erring importers and brokers.

These cases involve shipments amounting to P420 million with duties and taxes set at P147 million.

"This is to show our unrelenting drive to run after the smugglers who are trying to cheat the government," he said. —KG, GMA News