3 out of 7 Discaya luxury vehicles sold at auction, collections at P38.21M

Three of the seven luxury vehicles owned by controversial couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya, who are at the center of the flood control corruption scandal, were sold during a public auction held by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday morning.

The BOC collected a total of P38,211,710.00 after three vehicles were sold to Simplex Industrial Corp. and Lestrell Jewelries.

Simplex Industrial was the winning bidder for the Mercedes-Benz G500 (2019) Brabus - sold at P15,500,000 against an initial floor price of P7,843,239.43 - and the Mercedes Benz G63 AMG (2022) - sold at P15,611,710.00 against an initial floor price of P14,104,768.00.

Meanwhile, Lestrell Jewelries bought the Lincoln Navigator (2022) for a bid price of P7,100,000.00 against an initial floor price of P7,038,726.14.

The Customs was expecting to collect a total of P103,865,125.97 if all seven Discaya-owned vehicles were sold.

“We have proven that this can be done with the full view of the entire nation. We have somehow helped in resolving the issue of recovering these assets,” BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said, in a mix of English and Filipino, after the public auction.

Failed bidding

With no interested bidders, the auction for Toyota Tundra (2022) with an initial floor price of P4,994,079.00; Toyota Sequoia (2023) for sale at P7,258,800.36; the infamous Rolls-Royce Cullinan (2023), that came with a free umbrella, with a floor price of P45,314,391.11; and Bentley Bentayga (2022) priced at P17,311,121.93 were declared “failed.”

On the failed bidding of the remaining four vehicles, BOC deputy chief-of-staff and spokesperson Atty. Chris Bendijo explained that what happened was “actually bidders’ preference.”

Bendijo said one of the bidders told them that if the floor price of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan would be reduced to a P30-million price range, “definitely they would be participating in the future auction if that would be the price range.”

The BOC spokesperson said that “those vehicles which were subject of the failed bidding, the committee will reconvene [and] will recompute the floor price.”

“For this auction, we used a 10% depreciation factor but we are now considering maximizing it to 60% as depreciation. We can also consider current market prices for the second auction,” Bendijo said.

The Customs official said the bureau will be republishing the new floor prices for the unsold Discaya-linked vehicles in five days, but the actual day of the second auction is not yet determined.

The BOC revealed that there were eight registered bidders for the auction, namely:

• TDY Consumer Goods
• Carms Trading
• New Era Chinese Drug Store
• Simplex Industrial Corp.
• Miguelito Bayaborda
• Lesentrell Jewelries
• Diosario Trading
• Fast Car Trading

“‘Yun pong mga bidder natin ay pinasumite natin ng kanilang Income Tax Returns… So nate-check natin ‘yung kanilang purchasing power upang matiyak na hindi po talaga ito dummies lamang,” Bendijo said.

(We required the bidders to submit their respective Income Tax Returns… So we will be able to check their purchasing power and ensure that these bidders are not mere dummies.)

“At hindi po sila nasasaklaw doon sa prohibitions na sila po ‘yung importer, consignee, or nagmamay-ari nung mga smuggled na sasakyan,” the BOC official said.

(And they are not covered by the prohibitions that they are the importers, consignees, or owners of these smuggled vehicles.)

Proceeds

“Proceeds of the auction will go to the forfeiture fund of the BOC. The BOC cannot utilize that fund and will be reverted to the Treasury entirely,” Bendijo said.

At a press briefing, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro echoed the BOC’s pronouncement, saying that the public can be assured that all of the proceeds from the auction will be remitted to the Treasury.

Earlier, an inspection was held on the seven vehicles at the Manila South Harbour, led by Bureau of Customs (BOC) Ariel Napomuceno

"Mas importante dito sa pera o pondo na maari nating makukuha ay ang simbolismo at pagpapahalaga natin na pag ikaw ay gumawa ng mali, ikaw ay mananagot at ang pera ng bansa dapat mapakinabangan ng ating mga kababayan," said Nepomuceno. 

(More important than the money or funds we can get is the symbolism that if you do something wrong, you will be held accountable, and the country's money should benefit our countrymen.)

Also present during the inspection were Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) chairperson Andres Reyes Jr. said Wednesday, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, and newly appointed Finance chief Frederick Go. 

"We are here today to restore what rightfully belongs to the people. This is justice in practice," said Reyes.

Dizon, for his part, said the government will not stop until it recovers the alleged stolen public funds in relation to the irregularities in flood control infrastructure projects.

“Unang-una, alam ninyo naman na ang kabilin-bilinan ng Pangulo natin, hindi lang dapat makulong 'yung mga kailangang managot dito sa pagnanakaw ng pera nating lahat. Pero kailangan ding maibalik 'yung pera ng mga kababayan natin. And this is the beginning. Ito na 'yung umpisa,” Dizon said.

(First of all, as you all know, the President’s directive was not only to jail those accountable in plundering our money, but also to recover stolen public funds. And this is the beginning. This is the beginning.) —VAL/AOL, GMA Integrated News