The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper
‘Destroy ships carrying smuggled goods’
ZAMBOANGA CITY - A Filipino senator has proposed that every ship caught smuggling cargo into the Philippines suffer the fate of destruction as calls for tougher measures against smuggling intensified following the seizure of a Mongolian-flagged ship caught smuggling over 1300 tons of rice in Zamboanga Sibugay province recently.
The proposal was made by Senator Ralph Recto, who is also Senate President Pro Tempore, and he said that if smuggled goods like luxury cars are being destroyed by the government with much hoopla, then the same should also be done to ships that transport contraband from abroad.
Recto was referring to the cargo ship Diamond 8 which was seized by the navy off Olutanga town after soldiers discovered the contraband. The navy also held 11 Bangladeshi and four Chinese sailors, including dozens of Filipinos for smuggling some 27,000 bags of rice while at sea.
Officials said two smaller boats “Yssa Maine” and “Yousra” which were hauling bags of rice managed to escape and were being tracked down by the navy.
Among those being held is the ship’s captain, Lin Yang Yin, who failed to show legal documents for the contraband, according to Rear Admiral Rene Medina, commander of the naval forces in the region.
He said the ship was carrying 27,180 bags of rice worth nearly P68 million. Medina said they radioed the ship after it was spotted off Olutanga, but it did not respond, forcing the navy to send patrol ships for fear that the vessel was under attack or being harassed by pirates. But soldiers were shocked to discover the ship was loaded with 1,359 tons of rice and immediately seized the vessel.
He said there were 34 undocumented Filipinos – some of them are minors – and 17 others whose identities remain unknown. Medina said the navy already informed and coordinated with the Bureau of Customs, Department of Trade and Industry, Bureau of Immigration, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Medina said the ship was brought to the headquarters of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao in Zamboanga City where authorities are investigating those apprehended.
“The successful foiling of the illegal transport of smuggled tons of rice is a result of an intensified and focused maritime patrol and operation of the Philippine Navy. With this, the Philippine Navy through the Naval Forces Western Mindanao will continue to conduct constant monitoring and patrolling to deter any unlawful activities in its area of operation for a secured maritime environment,” he said.
It was not immediately known where the rice originated or who was behind it or its receiver in the province. Most of the smuggled rice that is now flooding the market in the region comes from Malaysia.
“Ships that wittingly carry smuggled goods, such as rice, in large quantities should be seized and confiscated, and if allowed by law, destroyed, sank, be made into artificial reefs. That would be the strongest deterrent to the illegal importation of farm products, which harm the livelihood of millions of farmers,” Recto said.
Agriculture watchdog Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura said that about P200 billion in farm products were smuggled into the country in the last five years causing government to lose some P80 billion in revenues.
On the other hand, smuggled oil deprived government of about P27 billion in taxes and duties in 2016, according to an estimate by the Department of Finance.
But Recto clarified that he was not proposing that every ship caught smuggling cargo be destroyed, but only those that were contracted to transport only one kind of smuggled item, whose nature as contraband, is known to the crew.
“If the carrier has good faith and was also fooled, they should not be punished. But if the ship is in conspiracy with the shipper, and participates in its clandestine unloading, and navigates in a manner that eludes detection, then the ship is an active participant in a crime,” he said, adding, the forfeiture of vessels are allowed under Philippine law, citing Section 1113 (a) of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, adding that if confiscated ships are not allowed to be destroyed, then they can still be repurposed and used as a training ship, a carrier of relief goods to calamity areas or a research ship.