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THE
Bureau of Customs rejected a trucking group’s proposal
which would have allowed the release of delivery
vehicles caught carrying smuggled or misdeclared goods.
Customs
Commissioner Napoleon Morales told reporters Tuesday
that the detention of trucks involved in illegal
transactions—a rampant activity in the country’s
ports—is a risk that trucking operators have to take in
the course of their business.
Earlier,
the Confederation of Truckers Association of the
Philippines asked the government for the immediate
release of all impounded cargo trucks from the Customs
custody, especially if it has no proof that the driver,
owner, or operator is involved in smuggling.
The
group said that it would be unfair to truckers, which
simply deliver and transport goods to various parts of
the country, if the bureau continues to detain its
members’ vehicles.
“The
immediate release of trucks apprehended for allegedly
carrying smuggled goods is not feasible…[T]rucks could
be part and parcel of the illegal activity and we have
to make sure that the operator has no hand in the
activity,” Morales said.
Once
smuggled cargo is found inside a truck, the vehicle is
impounded with the cargo until a formal case has been
filed.
For its
part, the truckers’ group said that impounded vehicles
should be held for a fixed period until authorities get
the necessary details to file their reports and pursue
legal action against the importers of smuggled goods.
In its
petition, the group argued that the indefinite
impounding of trucks found carrying illegal shipments
deprives operators, owners, and drivers of their income,
especially when vehicles stay for months at the Customs,
while the case is being investigated.
“Misdeclaration of imported goods is a violation of the
Tariff and Customs code of the Philippines, the violator
is the importer of the goods and not the cargo truck.
The situation may be otherwise if, through concrete
proof, the cargo driver or trucker is a party to said
misdeclaration, in which case the trucker or driver,
along with the importer may be prosecuted for violating
the TCCP,” CTAP president Rodolfo de Ocampo said. |
