The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Tuesday agreed to form a joint task force aimed at enforcing a strict import policy on luxury vehicles.
BOC Commissioner Ariel F. “This mutual cooperation with the LTO strengthens the shared goal of ensuring transparency, efficiency and strict compliance with customs laws and other government regulations,” Nepomuceno said in a statement Tuesday.
The MOU, signed at the LTO Central Office in Quezon City, seeks to protect the public by preventing fraudulent practices and protecting government revenues.
The two agencies will form a joint task force to crack down on illegally imported vehicles, including misclassified or misdeclared vehicles in violation of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
The initiative will also streamline data sharing for key vehicle documents such as payment certificates, registrations and official receipts.
This comes amid the government's anti-corruption crackdown, which has led to the seizure of luxury vehicles owned by contractors and public works officials who allegedly misused funds from flood control projects.
At the signing event, the LTO handed over the seized Lamborghini Urus of a Korean national to the Customs Department.
LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Marcus V. Lacanilao said the vehicle was imported by the same dealer of some of the luxury cars seized from the Discaya family.
Mr. Nepomuceno said Discaya was given until October 23 to submit documentation papers for the 13 seized luxury vehicles, which will be auctioned and expected to generate up to P220 million.
“We are aiming for November 15, provided Secretary Ralph G. Recto approves it. We will auction 13 vehicles,” he said, noting that several private bidders are interested.
Meanwhile, 17 vehicles remain in government custody as the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) are investigating the source of funds used by the Diskaya family to acquire the fleet.
Nearly P2-billion Sunwest facilities
In a separate briefing, Mr. Lacanilao said three projects located in the LTO complex, worth about P2 billion awarded to Sunwest Inc. from 2021, were found to be “underutilized” despite being completed.
It includes the Information Technology (IT) Hub and the Road Safety Interactive Center, which cost about P500 million, and the Central Command Center, which cost P946 million.
Asked about the intended function of the buildings, he said in Filipino, “It was supposed to be a dormitory. But that's not even clear. Then they added some IT stuff which is questionable.”
Mr Lakanilao said the findings came after an internal review after he took office. One of the buildings was stripped of its IT equipment, while the command centre, which responds to public concerns, had previously been flagged for under-utilisation by the Audit Commission.
“We are ready to bring it up before the ICI and the Lokpal because the President's directive was really to look at what could be wrongly or unfairly regulated,” he said.
Former Ako Bicol party-list representative Elizaldi S. The company that founded SunWest is also at the center of a billion-peso flood control scandal, which sparked the creation of ICI and parallel investigations by Congress, the Ombudsman and tax authorities. , Aubrey Rose A. innocente
