GMA: Destroyer of nice cars

Pao|o

Arroyo orders smuggled luxury cars destroyed
08/11/2007 | 11:28 AM
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President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered on Friday night the destruction of smuggled luxury vehicles intercepted recently by the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Task Force (PASTF).

Presidential chief of staff Cerge Remonde said Saturday the move aims to send a “strong message" to smugglers that the government is serious against smuggling.

“Gusto niya ipa-destroy talaga para message will be strong. Maybe next week when the president visits Clark. That’s what we discussed last night (She wants the cars destroyed so the message against smugglers will be strong. Maybe we’ll push through with it next week when the president visits Clark. That’s what we discussed last night)," Remonde said in an interview on government-run dzRB radio.

He said the cars to be destroyed include expensive sports cars from Europe such as Lamborghini and Porsche.

But Remonde admitted he does not know how much the cars cost, or how they will be destroyed.

“Kung pasunog we’ll affect the environment. Siguro pabagsakan ng container van or whatever, padurugin (If we burn them we’ll affect the environment. Perhaps we’ll crush them by dropping a container van on them or whatever)," he said.

Remonde said Arroyo was irked that smuggled vehicles that are intercepted and auctioned off eventually end up in the hands of the smugglers again.

On the other hand, he said Arroyo rejected suggestions that the smuggled cars be sold to film outfits that may use them as props. “Nadala na siya riyan (She’s been fooled before)," he said. He did not elaborate.

“Pag in-auction mga smuggler din mananalo. Kaya pasisirain, so the smuggler will lose their cars (If we auction off the cars, the smugglers will win the bidding. So we’ll have them destroyed so the smugglers will lose their cars)," he added. - GMANews.TV

the_BuGs

tama lang... smuggled yan eh... eh kung ibenta mo eh di parang pumuri ka na rin sa mga smugglers... common sense please...

Bumabayo_16

I agree. Their smuggled luxury cars merit the finale of being crushed by a container van. I believe GMA has done a proper decision, as it would send a clear message to smugglers and ward off potential ones.

P.S.: I suggest that GMA should just "keep the smuggled luxury vehicles for personal use... XD" or he could donate it to less-fortunate people, like me.

seed_mode

and me!

BOOGIECAT

Durugin din dapat ang smuggled Ferrari ni Mikey at LX470 ni FG para mas fair...

the_BuGs

^^ ehehhe ayaw kong masabihan ng pro arroyo dahil anti glorria ako pero pagkaalam ko isa sa mga privilege ng first family na makapag uwi ng luxury vehicle na tax free... kahit ordinary na diplomat ka at magreretiro na eh pwedeng pwede kang mag uwi dahil tax free...

tidus1203

IMO instead of destroying it dapat binenta na lang ng gobyerno para naman may mabawi sila sa mga di nilang nakolekta na tax.

BeerhandBop

"IMO instead of destroying it dapat binenta na lang ng gobyerno para naman may mabawi sila sa mga di nilang nakolekta na tax."


No. because it could end up in the hands of the smugglers themselves din.

kelunji

tidus1203 wrote: »

IMO instead of destroying it dapat binenta na lang ng gobyerno para naman may mabawi sila sa mga di nilang nakolekta na tax.

Yun nga yung ginagawa dati, pero napupunta pa rin sa smugglers yung mga kotse dahil rigged ang mga bidding.

brights

sell it at ebay

bondpaper22

how about giving these cars to legit dealers to be sold at regular/slightly discounted prices and then the profit given to the gov't? at least hindi kikita yung smuggler. sayang naman the cars! :(

BeerhandBop

no.. that'd be too dangerous for the 'legit car dealer'

smugglers R SRS PPL, you know.

gimago

Auctioning them off will be the best solution.

First of all, there will be more money accessible for the government to be utilized. Even some hundred million pesos will be extremely helpful in some areas, so the gross from selling the cars is something good. Now will the money actually go to the government or will it fall into the bottomless pit of corruption? That's the government's problem to deal with.

Regarding the smugglers being able to get their hands on the cars again when it is auctioned off: So what? They smuggled the cars in so that they won't have to pay taxes for importing them. The fact that they would need to pay a hefty amount of money just to get their hands back on the cars is like paying tax in itself. What's not to learn from that?

Destroying the cars is not the answer.

Migg_D

Looking at GMA's decision to destroy the smuggled luxury cars in a broader view, the effect this action could have in the future, as I see it, could be dramatic.

From over P80M(correct me if I'm wrong) loss of money, the government will be able to recover more money than this in the future. The smugglers themselves are castigated by the action, thus they are compelled to get rid of their antics and pay the required import and export duties. The action will also ward off potential smugglers, which is also a big payoff.

To put the cars in auction will not exacerbate these smugglers further. The probability that these cars could end up in the offender himself is substantial, and if that's the case, there will be no rebuke from their actions and it's the way of saying that "They are free to do it again. They just need to pay their debts, then they can have their cars again".

There are still many ways to earn money, but right now, the government only has one chance to show these offenders that their illegal actions merit an exponentially equivalent loss.

rendaku

BeerhandBop wrote: »

"IMO instead of destroying it dapat binenta na lang ng gobyerno para naman may mabawi sila sa mga di nilang nakolekta na tax."
No. because it could end up in the hands of the smugglers themselves din.

If so, then good for the government and the country--we get to collect much more than the duties and taxes that the smugglers could have evaded. Kahit kanino pang kamay mapunta ang mga cars, they would have adequately compensated the goverment. Destroying the car would not only be a demonstration of GMA's utter stupidity, but a total disrespect for the beauty and ingenuity that are embodied in those cars. E mas ill-gotten pa nga yung mga expensive private cars ng mga Congressmen, Senators and public officials--they did not acquire them from their own pockets. At least yung smugglers kanila yung perang pinangbili sa goods.

Dina_DJ

Did you guys see the cars that they finally destroyed? Mga walang makina.

rendaku

Dina_DJ wrote: »

Did you guys see the cars that they finally destroyed? Mga walang makina.

Hah! Was about to say, those thieves who were tasked to destroy the cars would surely stripped it of precious parts--to the last tiny emblem and bolt. E sa unang silay pa lang ng mga yan sa mga cars naglalaway na ang mga yan. They are worse than the smugglers! Mga magnanakaw. They raise and feed their families from stealing. MGA MAGNANAKAW.

BeerhandBop

yea lol. which means she got into a compromise.

both sides win. (pro and anti destroy)

compromise alwayz win for everyone.

Dina_DJ

I also heard that the cars they smashed at Subic are the ones that were considered "abandoned" -- the people who imported them aren't pursuing claiming the cars anymore because of the high taxes or other reasons. I think the Lambo, Porsche and Ferrari weren't condemned to be demolished because some well-connected people are still making a play for them.

I'm very curious to see if those cars will manage to escape Gloria's car-crunching wrath...

ken_cichla

kalokohan yang ginawa nilang yan. sana pina auction na lang sa legit dealers tapos binigay sa charity yung pera. what a waste...

soltera81

What was the reason behind the decision to destroy several smuggled and abandoned vehicles worth over P10 million “To send a message to smugglers”? What message? The only message smugglers respect is arrest and imprisonment. They must be laughing in disdain at the very stupid and hypocritical Customs officials who recommended the destruction of the cars. The cars belonged to either the government or to private entities. In either case, the law prohibits non-owners of the goods to destroy pieces of property that have value and are not prohibited from being exchanged or used. They should have just carried out an auction to generate much needed budget for social services such as education and health. This government is nothing but hypocrisy!