Execs sued for alleged smuggling of P14.3-M worth of steel

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday filed smuggling charges against five top officials and the customs broker of a steel importing firm for attempting to illegally import steel products worth around P14.3 million. 

 

Smuggling-related cases were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against officials of Stellent Corp., namely chairman of the board Rico Rigor Cayunda Cinco, board members’ Charmayne De La Peña Angeles, Asuncion Petra Angeles, Maria Rhezy G. Ilada, Ruge Robert S. Illada, and customs broker John Philip Malinao Yap for alleged unlawful importation of steel angle bars from China. 

 

They brought into the country 15 20-foot container vans of steel angle bars without the necessary Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) from the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS).

 

The shipment arrived from China at the Port of Manila in July 2014. 

 

The importer and customs broker violated section 3601 in relation to Section 101 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) as amended by Republic Act (RA) 7651. 

 

“Although there is a strong demand for steel products, we cannot let these illegal and unsafe products enter the local market,” Customs Commissioner John P. Sevilla said.

 

“We are working very hard to prevent the technical smuggling of substandard products that pose danger to people who will use them,” he added.

 

The BOC’s Intelligence Group received derogatory information about the shipment, allowing the agency to have personnel to validate the veracity of the derogatory information. —NB, GMA News