Luxury Cars Crushed in Subic to Teach Smugglers a Lesson

By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, Teresa Cerojano
INQUIRER.net , Associated Press

Gleaming luxury cars were reduced to crushed glass, twisted metal and tattered leather Thursday as Philippine officials oversaw the destruction of 18 vehicles smuggled into a former US naval base that is now a tax-free port.

A Lincoln Navigator, three BMW X5s, a Chevrolet Camper and a Mitsubishi GTO sports car were among the vehicles worth a total of P30 million pesos (US$652,000) crushed by backhoes in the Subic Bay Freeport as Finance Secretary Margarito Teves and customs officials watched.

The cars were destroyed on orders from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo "to send a message and also because it's common knowledge that if we auction them, the smugglers also win so it defeats the purpose," said Arroyo's aide, Cerge Remonde.

But Arroyo, who was scheduled to fly to Subic, failed to witness the crushing of the vehicles after her back-up helicopter experienced mechanical trouble.

The government hopes the example will serve as a deterrent to smugglers, Teves said.

"It's morally justifiable because (smuggling is) harming the state, it's harming our industry, it doesn't generate potential employment for our people," he said.

He appealed to everyone to "pay your taxes to help the country because we need the revenues to provide our people services and infrastructure."

Teves said the 18 smuggled vehicles alone cost the government P10 million (US$217,000) in lost taxes.

Fourteen other cars — including a Porsche, a Lamborghini and a Ferrari — that were supposed to be destroyed also Thursday were not crushed because their importers sought court action, Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group chief Antonio Villar said in an interview over government station Radyo ng Bayan.

Villar said several civic groups such as the Gawad Kalinga also appealed to the President to consider auctioning off the expensive cars and use the proceeds to help the poor.

But the group said the auction should be monitored by the government to ensure the cars would not land again in the hands of the smugglers.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the 18 destroyed cars were smuggled into Subic in 2002 but were not claimed by their owners, perhaps for fear of being in trouble with the law. The 14 other cars have claimants who are contesting their forfeiture in court, he said.

Earlier this month, Arroyo vowed to step up anti-smuggling efforts after revenue collections fell short of the target for the first half of the year and local industries complained about rampant smuggling.

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