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Two independent oil importers have paid in full
correct duties and taxes for their oil shipments, based on documents
from the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
The documents showed that
Muntinlupa-based Mawab Resources Inc. and Andan Enterprises Inc.
have paid all their correct assessed dues in full, belying
allegations that their shipments were undervalued.
“All of our import transactions
are aboveboard as evidenced by the approval of Customs and BIR
before and after the cargo shipments arrive,” Mawab and Andan
said.
Mawab entered the oil industry in
2001 when the government allowed the entry of small and independent
players.
Mawab said that in order to have
its own supply of low-cost diesel independent of other suppliers, he
and Andan invested in a new 10-million liter petroleum terminal
facility in Limay, Bataan, called the Bataan Petroleum Terminal Inc.
(BPTI). Recently, BPTI was accredited with the Board of Investments
and was accorded incentives and perks for five years.
BPTI’s terminal facilities
enabled the two imports to import petroleum at significantly low
prices.
“Different sourcing strategies
enable us to buy our imports at competitive prices. To say that we
undervalued our shipments is not only misleading but unfair,”
Mawab said.
The Customs documents showed the
values declared by Mawab and Andan in all shipments are the same
values reflected in the commercial invoices and sales contracts
between Mawab, Andan and their suppliers.
Based on the Value Reference and
Information System (VRIS) of the BOC on importations of oil and
petroleum from Taiwan and other countries as of April this year,
Andan said oil products imported from the same country or even with
the same supplier by oil companies in the Philippines are not priced
the same. Depending on the terms given to each and every importer by
these suppliers or exporting countries, prices may greatly differ.
He said it is also natural that
an exporting country has sourced its oil supply from other
countries, as far as Libya and Russia or even nearer as Taiwan, thus
further affecting the price of this commodity.
To compare the value of its
shipment with other values used by other oil companies is misleading
since different factors determine the value even if the oil import
came from the same country during the same period of time, Andan
said.
Mawab and Andan said that
newspaper reports that stemmed out from unauthorized persons
insinuating that the Customs has finally determined that alleged
smuggling has been committed by them is premature, misleading and
false.
“The issue is still being
looked at, verified and valuated and we know that our name will be
cleared in the end. Thus, in due time, we have full faith that the
appropriate bodies in the Customs will arrive at a just and fair
resolution to this issue,” it said.
--Jonathan M. Hicap
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