Customs helpless vs used car imports

A GREEN Toyota MR2 lands at Port Irene, the port of choice of used-car importers that are operating in Cagayan province. RICHARD BALONGLONG/INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Customs officials have admitted to being helpless against the influx of imported used vehicles into the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) in Sta. Ana town, Cagayan province.

“We have our backs against the wall,” said Leilani Alameda, deputy customs collector in the district that covers the Cagayan free port, a known turf of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile.

Alameda said officials could not stop used car traders from having the imported, secondhand cars processed for release because of a court ruling that stopped the government from enforcing a ban on used car importation.

“We risk getting sued again,” Alameda said in a phone interview.

Alameda was referring to a November 12 ruling by Judge Neljoe Cortes of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Aparri town that the previous ban on used car importation has been “impliedly repealed” by an executive order issued by now detained former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Cortes’ ruling was used by the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza), which manages the Cagayan free port, to issue an import permit to Fenix (Ceza) International Inc., a used car importer.

On December 14, 347 imported vehicles arrived at Port Irene, the CSEZFP’s main port. The shipment’s arrival is seen to pave the way for a revival of the used car industry at the Cagayan economic zone, which hit a snag in February after then Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon ordered a stop to used car importation.

Biazon, however, made a turnaround, allowing the processing of two shipments of vehicles consisting of more than 700 units that were covered by his suspension order.

In an earlier interview, Biazon cited the “continuous challenge” put up by car traders on the legal basis of his suspension order, which, he said, contradicted a ruling of the court.

On the basis of the court order, Nilo Aldeguer, Ceza senior deputy administrator, said Biazon gave the order for the processing of the imported units “through a text message” in August.

The RTC ruling was promulgated on Nov. 12, a copy of the decision showed.

Alameda said that since no written order was issued by the Bureau of Customs central office, they were constrained to processing the clearance of the 347 newly imported vehicles once these were presented to them.

“But so far, no import entry has been filed,” she said.