The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has filed smuggling cases against the five top officials of a steel-importing firm as well as a customs broker for allegedly attempting to illegally import steel products worth around P14.3 million.
The cases were filed on January 29 by BOC with the Department of Justice against officials of Stellent Corp. Charged were chairman of the board Rico Rigor Cayunda Cinco (a.k.a. Reco Rigor), board members Charmayne De La Peña Angeles, Asuncion Petra Angeles, Maria Rhezy Ilada, and Ruge Robert Illada, as well as the firm’s customs broker, John Philip Malinao Yap, for alleged unlawful importation of steel angle bars from China.
Cinco and the others are facing charges of violating the Bureau of Products Standards Law for bringing into the country 15 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of steel angle bars without the necessary Import Commodity Clearance from the Department of Trade and Industry-Bureau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS).
The said law requires importers to acquire BPS certification before importing steel angle bars. The respondents’ supposed unlawful importation also violated section 3601 in relation to Section 101 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines (TCCP) as amended by Republic Act 7651. The shipment arrived at the Port of Manila from China in July 2014.
“Although there is a strong demand for steel products, we cannot let these illegal and unsafe products enter the local market,” Customs Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla said in a statement.
“We are working very hard to prevent the technical smuggling of substandard products that pose danger to people who will use them,” Sevilla added.
The smuggling attempt was foiled following an alert order issued by BOC’s intelligence group after it received derogatory information about the shipment. The alert order was hoisted over the shipment to place it under special attention and allow Customs personnel to validate the derogatory information.
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