{"id":151491,"date":"2018-02-06T22:25:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T03:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=151491"},"modified":"2018-02-06T22:25:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T03:25:46","slug":"prrd-leads-destruction-of-smuggled-luxe-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/02\/06\/prrd-leads-destruction-of-smuggled-luxe-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD leads destruction of smuggled luxe cars"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Duterte<\/a>
Duterte said he carried the trust of the Filipino people and he had to fulfil his election campaign promise to stop graft and corruption in the government. (Photo:<\/a> Bureau of Customs PH\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u2014<\/strong>\u00a0President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday showed his firm resolve to fight smuggling and corruption as he witnessed the simultaneous condemnation of smuggled luxury vehicles in Manila, Cebu and Davao.<\/p>\n

A total of 30 used and brand new luxury cars were destroyed, highlighting the Bureau of Customs (BOC)\u2019s 116th founding anniversary under a theme \u2018Moving in One Direction.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis smuggling has been going on. It\u2019s more than a century old but this kind of racket has been going on again and again. Well, it has to stop,\u201d President Duterte said in his 50-minute speech he delivered after witnessing the destruction of the 20 luxury cars worth PHP61.6 million inside the BOC compound in Port of Manila.<\/p>\n

Duterte said he carried the trust of the Filipino people and he had to fulfil his election campaign promise to stop graft and corruption in the government.<\/p>\n

He lauded the BOC officials and employees led by Commissioner Isidro Lapena for posting an all-time revenue collection in the last quarter of 2017.<\/p>\n

According to Lapena\u2019s accomplishment report, the BOC hit PHP40 billion monthly revenue collection from September to December in 2017.<\/p>\n

President Duterte\u2019s directive to clean BOC of unscrupulous individuals had resulted in the PHP456.91 billion revenue collection, the highest since 2013, in 2016.<\/p>\n

Out of the 30 units of luxury cars such as Lexus, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Jaguar, Corvette Stingray, Jeep Wrangler and Toyota Land Cruiser, 20 were destroyed in Port of Manila, seven in Davao and three in Cebu.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not in front of an incorrigible crowd. I know that most of you are honest, otherwise we have not collected this huge amount,\u201d President Duterte said, drawing applause from BOC family.<\/p>\n

Duterte, however, said there was deeply-rooted impression that most of the people in the BOC were corrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all of you are without morality. But even in Davao, you look for beautiful houses, it\u2019s the BIR and the Customs. That\u2019s the sad fact,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBato-bato sa langit, tamaan \u2018wag magalit\u2019. I am just echoing the deep-seated sentiment of the people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Duterte had earlier castigated corrupt BOC officials and employees for making huge money out of the smuggled luxury vehicles by conniving with wealthy car enthusiasts who avoided paying correct duties and taxes to the government.<\/p>\n

President Duterte warned the government officials and employees not only in the BOC but in all government offices to stop their illegal activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to stop, at least during my time,\u201d President said.<\/p>\n

For the BOC, President said much remains to be done to make the bureau as one of the top performing agencies of the government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a long and challenging journey for the agency as it strove to curb customs fraud and facilitate trade through effective customs management system,\u201d the President said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, much remains to be done. The BOC needs to improve its overall revenue collection to meet its target so that the government will have more funds for its priority development programs,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u2014\u00a0President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday showed his firm resolve to fight smuggling and corruption as he witnessed the simultaneous condemnation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":151492,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,95],"tags":[20745,13135,46020,46021],"class_list":["post-151491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news-ph","tag-bureau-of-customs-boc","tag-president-rodrigo-duterte","tag-prrd-leads-destruction-of-smuggled-luxe-cars","tag-smuggled-luxury-vehicles","mauthors-jelly-musico","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}