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A petrochemical firm associated with “plastics king” William
Gatchalian denied on Sunday that it had smuggled generators into the
country and claimed that the allegation was made by a
“discredited” finance official who was suspended for graft.
Ruben Frogoso, a finance intelligence officer,
told the Commission on Appointments on Wednesday that Finance
Secretary Margarito Teves gave tax exemptions to a shipment of 24
vans of generators that had been seized by the Bureau of Customs for
being misdeclared as movie equipment and undervalued by 98 percent.
In a press statement, an official of the
National Petrochemical Alliance said his firm could not be accused
of smuggling because the generators were to be temporarily used for
a Bataan polyethylene plant and be re-exported to Singapore soon.
“The generators and the accessories that were
imported and consigned to NPC Alliance Corp. were for temporary use
only and would be re-exported back to Singapore as soon as NPC
Alliance could reconnect to the Substation of Team Energy [formerly
Mirant] for its power requirements,” Rogelio Garcia, the NPCA
spokesman, said.
He explained that Mirant earlier refused to
provide power to a company that had Iranian interest and that the
change in ownership from Mirant to Team Energy enabled NPC Alliance
to finally reconnect with the substation for its power consumption.
“Besides, NPC Alliance Corp. is a Board of
Investment [BOI]-registered pioneer industry and thus enjoys a
six-year tax holiday and tax exemption on capital equipment
including unlimited consignment of capital goods for its temporary
use,’’ Garcia’s statement added.
“To link Secretary Margarito Teves to the
alleged irregularity is most unfair and betrays sinister hands at
work to undermine his integrity and block his confirmation by the
Commission on Appointments,’’ Garcia said.
Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the
Commission’s Committee on Finance, said he would not recommend the
confirmation of Teves until he has fully explained the alleged
smuggling issue. Frogoso said the government lost P373 million in
revenues with the tax exemption.
The firm claimed that Frogoso filed the
complained against Teves before the Commision after the Ombudsman
ordered his suspension from service in July for various
irregularities, including the increase of his networth to P6.048
million in his first 15 months in service when his salary was only
P109,452 a year.
-- Efren L. Danao
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