The Philippine Bureau of Customs (BOC) has once again appealed to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to press smuggling charges against Mark Ruben Taguba II and nine other individuals for the importation of 605 kilograms of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) shipment that slipped past the bureau and were seized by authorities in May 2017.
BOC, through its Bureau’s Action Team Against Smugglers (BATAS), on January 18 submitted an 18-page position paper to Assistant State Prosecutor Charles Guhit asking that “probable cause be found against the respondents and an information be filed against them for the violation of Sections 1400, 1401, and 1403 in relation to Section 118 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).”
The position paper was submitted during the continuation of the preliminary investigation on the case.
Respondents include customs player Taguba; Eirene Mae A. Tatad, owner of the shipment’s consignee, EMT Trading; Teejay A. Marcellana, the shipment’s customs broker; Chen Ju Long (a.k.a. Richard Tan, or Richard Chen), chairman and general manager of Hongfei Logistics Group of Companies, Inc., which owns the warehouse where the shipment was found; Fidel Anoche Dee, warehouseman; businessmen Chen I. Min and Jhu Ming Jyun who rented the warehouse; and Li Guan Feng (a.k.a. Manny Li) and Dong Yi Shen (a.k.a Kenneth Dong) who, together with Taguba, helped process the shipment.
The position paper also listed as respondents other co-conspirators and individuals that had allegedly participated, directly or indirectly, in processing the illegal shipment.
BATAS claimed the respondents “united and through concerted actions” imported the 604 kilograms of shabu “through the use of fraudulent bill of lading and other documents and declaring such goods as cutting boards, footwears, kitchenwares, and moulds, when in truth and in fact, such goods were found to be prohibited drugs worth Php6.5B.”
BATAS said these acts violate Sections 1400 (misdeclaration, misclassification, undervaluation, undervaluation of goods declaration); 1401 (unlawful importation or exportation); 1403 (other fraudulent practices against customs revenue); and 118 (prohibited importation and exportation) of CMTA.
“This is evident in the fact that each respondent performed specific acts geared toward the importation of the six hundred five (605) transparent plastic bags containing methamphetamine hydrochloride,” the position paper read.
“Defendants are one in their denial that there was no connivance among themselves. However, it is clear that based on their overt acts, each defendant may be constituted as principal by indispensable cooperation,” it added.
It added that “while conspiracy to commit a crime must be established by positive evidence, it must be emphasized that direct proof is not essential to show conspiracy. Since by its nature conspiracy is planned in utmost secrecy, it can seldom be proved by direct evidence. Consequently, competent and convincing circumstantial evidence will suffice to establish conspiracy.”
It noted that since the alleged crime charged is for violation of CMTA, which is a special law, “threfore, mala prohibita, making intent uncessary to be established.”
BOC in a separate statement said it is certain that there is sufficient probable cause against all respondents for violation of pertinent laws, thus smuggling raps must be filed against them. The shabu shipment arrived at the Manila International Container Terminal in May last year, and passed undetected by BOC. Through an intelligence report from the Chinese Customs, the shipment was seized a few days after on May 26 in a warehouse in Valenzuela. The shipment then became the subject of several Congress hearings.
DOJ in November last year already filed a case before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Valenzuela City against Taguba and at least nine others for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act over the shabu shipment. The Valenzuela RTC, however, dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction and cleared five out of the nine. DOJ on December 27, 2017 filed for a motion for reconsideration.
DOJ, on the other hand, cleared former customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon and other former BOC officials last November of the drug and criminal charges filed against them by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency over the same shabu shipment.
Aside from BOC, its sister agency, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), on January 4 filed tax evasion complaints against Taguba and Dong before the DOJ.
BIR Commissioner Cesar Dulay alleged that Taguba in 2016 evaded the payment of P850 million in taxes, including surcharges and interests, which the agency had calculated from Taguba’s own testimonies during the Senate hearings on the case.
BIR has also filed a tax evasion case against Dong amounting to P11.4 million, based on his testimonies during Senate hearings of his income and on other documents collated by BIR.
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