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Malacañang said there is no vehicle smuggling in Port Irene and
that Executive Order No. 156 banning sales of used vehicles outside
Subic Freeport does not apply to the Cagayan Economic Zone, where
the former port is located.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the
Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group, which he earlier ordered to
investigate alleged smuggling of used luxury cars in Cagayan, had
found no evidence of smuggling there.
“He [Undersecretary Antonio Villar of the
anti-smuggling group] told me there was no such smuggling,” Ermita
said.
He added that the issue must have stemmed from
misdeclarations of vehicle importers and the government must look
closely on this issue. No elaboration was given.
Executive Order No. 418 imposes a P500,000
import duty on vehicles imported through the Subic Freeport, which
importers in the free port argued before the Supreme Court as having
implied the revocation of EO 156, which bans the importation of used
vehicles.
The Supreme Court, however, upheld the validity
of EO 156 regardless of EO 418, and ordered to uphold the ban on the
use and sale of imported vehicles outside the Subic Freeport.
The American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) was
said to have issued a report on the importation of used luxury
vehicles through Port Irene, and the sale of these vehicles outside
the Cagayan zone. Amcham, however, denied making allegations of
“smuggling” at Port Irene.
Ermita said the Supreme Court’s ruling
upholding the validity of EO 156 applied only to the Subic Freeport,
and not to the Cagayan zone.
-- Angelo S. Samonte
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