Gov’t to use wrecked cars to build ‘monument of change’

CONDEMNED. A bulldozer crushes imported used cars held at an economic zone in Santa Ana town, Cagayan.  —JOAN BONDOC

SANTA ANA, Cagayan – The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) plans to build a “monument of change,” composed of scrap metal from the smuggled luxury vehicles that are being destroyed at Port Irene here, to remind people about the government’s resolve to weed out corruption and smuggling.

President Duterte witnessed a bulldozer crush 14 luxury vehicles like Porsches and Mercedes Benzes on Wednesday afternoon. About 800 other cars would soon be destroyed after an accredited used car importer withdrew its protest against their condemnation.

Tourist attraction

Lawyer Raul Lambino, Ceza administrator, said the monument could become a tourist attraction. “We want to use this as a reminder of the government’s campaign against corruption and smuggling,” he said. Only the scraps from 100 destroyed cars will be used for the monument. The rest will be donated to cooperatives to help them generate funds.

“I assured the President that all 855 vehicles would be condemned, but we had 14 only for the first batch. The President said, ‘Okay, then take care of the rest,’” Lambino said.

Antismuggling drive

Ceza forfeited and condemned the vehicles, following Mr. Duterte’s directive to destroy seized units to prevent smugglers from “making a mockery” of the government’s antismuggling campaign.

“The destruction of these smuggled luxury vehicles signifies our strong resolve to restore good governance, preserve our nation’s dignity and safeguard our people’s welfare,” Mr. Duterte said in his speech on Wednesday.