1800,000 'ukay-ukay' destroyed in Bulacan

Almost 600 bales of used clothing worth 1800,000 were destroyed by the Bureau of Customs in Bulacan Friday.

A total of 591 bales of abandoned ukay-ukay were shredded at the facility of EPY-ECO Auction and Waste Disposal Services in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

The facility is the accredited service provider of the Port of Subic for the condemnation of contrabands and expired goods.

The shipment, according to the bureau, was abandoned at the Port of Subic.

Seized shipments of used clothing are subjected to destruction, Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said, because the goods may cause harm to public health and welfare.

The destruction of the seized goods was led by the District Collector of the Port of Subic, Segundo Sigmundfreud Z. Barte, who emphasized that while the commercial proliferation of ‘ukay-ukay’ is popular, Republic Act 4653 prohibits the importation thereof, to safeguard public health.

The District Collector was joined by the representatives of the Commission on Audit and the local government of Guiguinto, Bulacan.

Recently, two shipments that have been abandoned for almost a decade at the Port of Manila were also destroyed in Laguna.

Another condemnation of used clothing will also conducted in Port of Cagayan de Oro Saturday. Sacks of milled rice were also disposed in Port of Tacloban Friday.