For people unfamiliar with it, any mention of the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) immediately brings to mind a visual comparison with the more familiar Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales.
A group of used-car dealers has warned of a possible disappearance of imported vehicles here in what could be a repeat of the supposed mistake that the government committed in handling the importation controversy at Subic Bay Freeport several years ago.
A shipment of 446 used luxury cars, sport utility vehicles, sedans and vans arrived at Port Irene here on Saturday, even as a controversy continues to rage over the legality of such importations in the face of a Supreme Court ban and despite a moratorium that the government has issued against their registration.
A fleet of Hummers, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini and other used luxury cars due to arrive on Saturday at Port Irene here may end up as pieces of junk once the government imposes the ban on imported vehicles, the trade of which has become a mini-industry at the free port.
Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon on Thursday ordered customs personnel in Port Irene to stop the release of more than 200 used cars and vans that arrived on Monday at the free port in Sta. Ana, Cagayan province.
Following a slump in the sales of new motor vehicles in the country, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 156 on Dec. 12, 2002, banning the importation of used vehicles (except light trucks, buses and special-purpose vehicles).
A shipment of more than 200 used cars and vans arrived on Monday at Port Irene in Santa Ana town in Cagayan province, despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the ban on vehicle importation, a local official said on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court decision declaring the constitutionality of an executive order banning used-car importation into the country will put a stop to the “virtual smuggling” of vehicles at a free port in Cagayan province, a Malacañang official said over the weekend.
An official of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) testified on Monday that he used the name of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to pressure a colleague to cooperate in expediting the release of a questionable shipment of Indian rice worth P500 million.
