February 4, 2016
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/gYgLjM
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) filed smuggling charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against two firms for the alleged illegal importation of refined sugar, misdeclared as bitumen, worth PHP33 million (US$689,459), according to the Philippines’ ABS CBN News.
Bitumen is an oil-based substance used for road surfacing and roofing.
Charged were Trisho General Merchandise and Rainbow Holdings, Inc., with office addresses at San Ildefonso, Bulacan and Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa, respectively.
Also charged were Trisho proprietor Patricia Manahan Ong and customs broker Cleth Jay A. Bacay; and Rainbow senior adviser Soon Seung Joon, executive vice-president Diosdado Serbio, Jr., corporate financial officer Rolando Ambrosio, corporate secretary Kathleen May Uy; and several John and Jane Does.
Customs Commissioner Bert Lina said Rainbow smuggled in 21 40-footer container vans of refined sugar from Hong Kong declared as "bitumen" from July 29 to August 21 of this year through the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
Trisho allegedly smuggled in one forty-footer container van of refined sugar, also declared as "bitumen," from Shanghai last May 15 through MICP.
The BOC complaint states that respondents violated Sections 3601 (unlawful importation) and 101 (prohibited importation) of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines; Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) Rules and Regulations and Joint Memorandum Order No. 4002; and, Article 172 (falsification by private individual and use of falsified documents) of the Revised Penal Code.