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AFTER
offering an out-of-court compromise settlement, Oilink
International Corp. said Monday that its Bataan terminal
has resumed operations and is now back in business after
having been recently closed and taken over by the Bureau
of Customs (BOC) owing to an assessment dispute.
In a
statement, Oilink said the BOC ordered the opening of
the oil terminal on August 10 after the parties agreed
on an out-of-court settlement.
Liza
Magaway, Oilink International Corp. president, said the
company has withdrawn the cases it filed against the BOC
in the Regional Trial Court of Balanga, Bataan and the
Court of Tax Appeals.
As the
largest privately owned storage facility with a 1
million barrel capacity capable of supplying 12-percent
of the total oil requirements of the country, the sudden
closure of Oilink’s depot on July 26 affected the
company’s major clients in the airline and transport
industry as well as 500 independent gasoline stations
nationwide.
Magaway
said both parties were satisfied with the compromise,
but she clarified that Oilink has been diligently paying
its duties and taxes.
“In
fact, Oilink has already paid the government more than
P1 billion worth of duties and taxes this year,” she
added.
Oilink
is the leading independent oil company in the country
and its latest financial statement reflects that it has
already earned an income of about P150 million in the
first six months of 2007; this is even projected to
double by the end of 2007.
Oilink
and other legitimate independent oil companies expressed
their full support for the government’s efforts to curb
the rampant smuggling of large volumes of petroleum
products through the country’s free ports and special
economic zones.
“We are
positive that the elimination of oil smuggling in the
country will give legitimate oil companies a level
playing field and will give them an opportunity to
recover huge revenue losses which they have incurred due
to the illegal importation of petroleum products,”
Magaway said. |
