MORE RIGHT-HAND DRIVE CARS ARRIVING IN SUBIC, SOLON BARES

ADMINISTRATION Congressman Prospero Nograles today revealed that two shiploads of used right-hand drive vehicles are again expected to flood the country despite the unresolved dispute between the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and the Department of Trade and Industry on the legality of the entry and sale of these imported vehicles.

Nograles said that according to his sources, the two car ships fully loaded with right-hand drive vehicles are expected to arrive this week through the Subic Freeport  while hundreds of other used vehicles which are being kept  at several compounds near Kalayaan Gate inside the Subic Freeport are ready for disposal to auctioneers.

            Nograles made this revelation as he reiterated his call for  SBMA Chairman Felicito “Tong” Payumo to put his feet down on the continued proliferation of  used right hand drive vehicles in the country.

Nograles said the entry and sale of used vehicles at the Subic Bay Freeport is a form of technical smuggling and should not be tolerated by the government, particularly the SBMA.

He warned Payumo that unless the importation and sale of these used right-hand drive vehicles is stopped, the Subic Bay Freeport will continue to gain notoriety as the hub of smuggling in the country  instead of gaining fame as a site for legitimate investments.

“ The Subic Freeport was specifically created to encourage honest-to-goodness investments and not some junkyard for these right-hand drive vehicles,” Nograles pointed out.

            He said that while the importers and auctioneers of these vehicles claim that they have been contributing hefty amount of revenues to the government, they are still obviously avoiding their rightful tax responsibilities.

            “ Our free ports are not being used for the purpose that they have been established in the first place. Free ports are designed to provide investors the privilege to import their raw materials tax free,” Nograles said.

            He said that in the case of the used vehicle importers, they chose the Subic Freeport as the entry point of the used vehicles to defraud the government by avoiding customs duties that are normally imposed on regular ports.

            Nograles has earlier expressed support for the move of Trade Secretary Mar Roxas III  to stop the importation of used vehicles not only because the continued importation and sale of  these used right-hand drive vehicles is detrimental to the Philippine economy but also because this is illegal.

            “ The way I look at it, this is technical smuggling,” stated Nograles who was a topnotch lawyer before he entered politics.

            Based on his information, there are at least 63 registered traders at the SBMA who are engaged in the importation of used right-hand drive vehicles. They are reportedly headed by Eduardo Barreto, President of the Importers Association of Subic.

            Nograles said that as traders, Barreto and his group are not supposed to be also allowed to import and sell these right-hand drive vehicles because they are licensed as importers.

            Nograles added he was also informed that different auctioneers of these  right-hand drive vehicles have organized a lobby group called the Association of Philippine Auctioneers (APA) headed by Romulo Armamento and Dominic Sytin to discredit the DTI, particularly Roxas.

April 22, 2002