FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs grossed P4.7 million from auctioning off some 676,350 kilograms of smuggled garlic that it had seized in June.
Six bidders participated in the auction held through a sealed bid at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) on Aug. 29.
The auction was originally set for Aug. 26 but was canceled after the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) issued import permits that allowed the entry of several shipments of garlic on the same day.
This prompted a reappraisal of the bid price for the seized garlic.
No takers for 1st shipment
“From the original price of about P50 per kilo, for a total minimum floor price of P33 million, the total floor price was adjusted to P16.69 million or about P24.50 per kilo,” the bureau said.
There were no takers for the first shipment—17 40-foot container vans holding about 486,870 kilos of garlic—as bidders said the shipment had started to rot.
The second lot—four 40-foot shipping containers containing 104,670 kilos of garlic—was bought by KKRL Trading for P2.592 million.
Winning bidders
Another 55,850 kilos of garlic was bought by bidder Kaunlaran for P1.386 million, while the last lot—28,960 kilos—was won by a Nilo Peñaflor at P728,000.
The winning bidders put down 50 percent of their bids initially, with the balance to be paid on the next business day, after which the winners had two days to remove their garlic from MICP.
“The winning bidders were also required to have the garlic fumigated by a service provider duly accredited with the BPI,” the bureau said.
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