Davao trader sues over smuggle raps

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—A businessman-broker here sued on Thursday Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez and Deputy Commissioner Gregori Chavez for grave misconduct and abuse of authority before the Ombudsman Mindanao.

Jorlan Cabanes, of Seadove Maritime Services Inc., said the charges were in response to the P5-billion smuggling complaint slapped against him and Phoenix Petroleum Phils Inc. by the BOC, which he said was also libelous.

In his complaint, Cabanes said Alvarez and Chavez violated the BOC’s own rules and regulations when they accused him and Phoenix of smuggling, which he described as “utterly ridiculous and untrue.”

Last week, the BOC charged Cabanes and Phoenix with smuggling at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for alleged “non-payment of excise and value-added taxes, non-submission of import documents such as invoices and bills of lading.”

The BOC said it based its case on the findings of the run-after-smugglers (Rats), a special group headed by Chavez.

The BOC said from June 2010 to April, Cabanes and Phoenix smuggled oil products from Thailand amounting to P5.14 billion.

But Cabanes denied this and said the importation was “duly documented and that the duties and taxes were paid by Phoenix.”

Cabanes said BOC never gave him and his client the chance to explain before the case was filed, making Alvarez and Chavez “oppressive and irresponsible.”

He cited Customs Memorandum Order No. 16-10, which gave importers—who are suspected of misdeclaring cargo value—a chance to explain.

Cabales said under Section 4.4 of the said memorandum, the Customs collector, who suspected the accuracy of the declared imported goods, must communicate with the company concerned but it did not take place.

“Considering that, as cited above, it is mandatory for the BOC to communicate with the importer … and assuming that there was indeed a case filed, the filing of criminal charges against Phoenix and me without any prior notice of any discrepancy as required by the BOC’s own rules and regulations clearly amounts to grave misconduct and a grave injustice not to mention a blatant violation of my constitutional right to due process,” Cabanes said in the charge sheet.

He also said the officials committed libel when they made public the case against him.

“By making public unfounded allegations of defrauding the government and complicity in smuggling against me, my reputation was unjustly and irreparably tarnished by the persons responsible. I have been subjected to public humiliation, embarrassment, and even exposure to criminal prosecution without having been given the required opportunity to explain,” Cabanes said. Jeffrey M. Tupas, Inquirer Mindanao