THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) has assured the public that the agency and its people are always on alert to avoid illegal activities particularly smuggling off the high seas.
This was the assurance of Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz following the interception of an unmarked fuel shipment suspected of being smuggled in a private port in the province of Batangas on February 8, 2023.
The apprehension came in the wake of a Senate hearing last January 19, 2023 where Committee on Energy chairman, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, released the names of 9 alleged ‘big time smugglers’ involved the illicit trade of oil products.
During the hearing, Tulfo also blasted the representative of the BOC, Special Agent Anthony Escandor, for admitting he does not know any of the names mentioned by the senator.
According to Tulfo, the following are engaged in oil smuggling: Don Rabonza who is known in Navotas; Sonny Qiu, Jackie Chu, Aron Uy and Lindon Tan in Batangas and Sariaya, Quezon; Alex Chua, Bogs Violago and Jong Mangundadatu and Dondon Alahas in Mariveles, Bataan.
“They are not slowing down, but neither are we. This is a long and uphill battle, but the agency and our people are well-prepared to finish of their (smugglers) activities,” the customs chief said.
“The reports that our intelligence officers generate show the magnitude of how these smuggling operations affect our markets and our people,” he added.
Bureau officials however, declined to confirm if their present focused campaign against oil and fuel smuggling was a result of the revelations made by Tulfo.
In a talk with Pinoy Exposé, what the officials confirm was that the names mentioned by Tulfo and their activities are now “under investigation.”
The BOC in a statement said it received a report from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) on the possible presence of an unmarked fuel inside crude oil tanker ‘MT Harmony Star’ in a private port in the vicinity of Barangay Mainaga in Mabini town.
Customs personnel proceeded to the private port where they found two parked fuel trucks loading fuel from the vessel that was about 30 meters away from the shoreline.
CIIS Director Jeoffrey Tacio said BOC operatives approached a representative of the vessel who was inside a white, bulletproof car. He said that when the representative did not respond, they called for backup composed of operatives from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Philippine National Police (PNP).
He said they are no longer stranger to any attempts to bring in smuggled fuel to the country adding that their campaign against fuel smuggling has been ongoing.
An initial test done on one of the trucks found the fuel marker—an inert chemical added to fuel after the payment of duties and taxes—at .02 percentage, a deficient level that confirmed that the oil did not pass through the proper procedure of importation.
The latest interception came a day after Customs authorities and the PCG in Palawan intercepted 847,395 liters of diesel fuel from the ‘MT Braleman 1’ while the vessel was anchored about one nautical mile west off Barangay Caruray in San Vicente town (with additional report from Philippine News Agency).