DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 2 Feb) – President Rodrigo R. Duterte said the government would destroy confiscated smuggled luxury vehicles by running a tractor over them Tuesday next week and told the car enthusiasts to import vehicles the proper way.
In his speech during the Indigenous Peoples Leaders’ Summit Thursday at the Naval Station Felix Apolinario in Panacan, Duterte said he would rather want government to destroy the luxury cars seized by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) than putting them up for auction because smugglers would abuse it in order to evade taxes and acquire legal papers for the smuggled cars.
“Mag- import kayo tapos ang (You would import and then the) consignee [is] fake. Fake news, fake name, fake address. Pagkahuman, imbarguhon man na sa Customs, di ba? Kay wa’y tag-iya, wa’y mobayad og buwis (After that, it will be confiscated by Customs, right? Because it has no owner, no one would pay the taxes),” he said.
Among vehicles confiscated by the BOC include Ferraris, Porsches, and Lamborghinis.
The smugglers, the President said, could just wait for six months to one year until the vehicles will be up for auction at a cheaper price.
Duterte said he has already ordered Customs Commissioners Isidro Lapeña not to sell off the smuggled luxury vehicles because he wanted a tractor to destroy them.
He said auctioning them off would only benefit the smugglers.
“Marami kayong kotse pagkatapos ‘pag auction, bigyan kayo ng papel. Legal na mura pa. So ang gawain ko, ngayong Tuesday, manood kayo sa pera ninyo kay tanang luxury car nga gi-import, paligsan ko na og tractor (You have so many vehicles after the auction and you will be given papers. That’s not only legal but also cheap. What I will do on Tuesday, watch your money [disappear] because I will get a tractor to run over your luxury cars),” he said.
Duterte told the car enthusiasts to stop importing illegal vehicles.
“Gusto mong gwapong kotse? Import mo. Bayri daan. Pero ayaw mi’g binuangi kay you’ve always been – niloko ninyo ang gobyerno (You want a nice car? You import, but pay for it. But do not fool us around – you’ve been fooling around with government),” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)