No ‘tara’ in Clark, says BOC collector

CLARK FREEPORT — The Bureau of Customs collector in the Port of Clark has denied accepting “tara” (payola) from importers and smugglers as claimed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a privilege speech last week.

Maritess Martin, who was appointed head of the Port of Clark in December 2016, said the allegation was unfounded since Clark, while a free port, has no seaport.

“No containers are directly discharged at the Port of Clark. All the goods that enter Clark are tax and duty-free since it’s a free port,” Martin said in a text message.

The United States used Clark as an air base until 1991. The government converted it into a free port with an international airport a year after the Mt. Pinatubo eruptions in 1991.

Martin said goods imported by registered free port zone locators or exporters and by companies registered with the Philippine Export Zone Authority were “discharged, processed and examined at either ports of Manila, Manila International Container Terminal or Port of Subic, and subsequently farmed out to locators and exporters inside the zone.”

“There is no point in giving tara since tax and duty-free goods enter through the Port of Clark,” she said. —TONETTE OREJAS