Gov’t raises only P6.3 million from smuggled cars’ sale

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MANILA, Philippines—The government on Wednesday (April 27) raised only P6.3 million from three smuggled cars it sold instead of destroying them as done in the past.

Among five smuggled luxury vehicles under the care of the Manila International Container Port (MICP), which were auctioned off for the third time, two were sold to a company called RCME Metal Product Trading Corp—a 2001 Mercedes Benz SLK55 sold for only P775,000 and a Mercedes Benz SLK350 sold for only P730,000.

The floor prices for the smuggled cars were slashed by nearly half from their levels in December 2021.

Three companies submitted bids for the two cars.

They were sold for higher than their floor prices of P772,554.92 and P727,720.85. In the first two auctions, the Benzes were priced for P1.3 million and P1.2 million at the January auction, which were deemed excessive by observers and car enthusiasts.

Three other smuggled cars—a 2008 Ferrari Scuderia 430, a 2001 Porsche Boxster and a 2011 Mercedes Benz E220—attracted no bidders like in the two earlier auctions despite their prices being slashed by half.

The first two failed auctions for the five vehicles sought to raise at least P29 million. The adjusted prices for Wednesday’s auction totaled only P14.9 million.

Customs Deputy Commissioner Edward James Dy Buco said the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), and the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) will schedule another round of bidding for the three still unsold cars.

The Port of Manila’s (POM) first foray into selling a seized smuggled luxury car was more successful as it raised P4.8 million — higher than the P4.75-million floor price — from a Mercedes Benz G500. A company called Mopen Trading Corp. made the highest bid for this sport utility vehicle (SUV), which attracted four bidders.

Deputy National Treasurer Erwin Sta. Ana said a total of P6.3 million was generated from the latest auction, a vast improvement from the two rounds of all failed bidding previously.

Dy Buco said the BOC would check its records if there could be more smuggled vehicles which may be sold this way.

The BOC, the BTr, and Landbank used clustering during the auction, wherein the highest bid was made the new floor price, and then the second-highest bidder was given a chance to outbid the top bidder. In all three successfully sold cars, the top bidders won against their respective co-bidders as the second placers no longer raised their bids.

Pre-pandemic, the BOC destroyed smuggled cars in public to supposedly show that the government was “serious” in its anti-smuggling drive. But the government last year changed its tack and auctioned off some of the luxury vehicles it had confiscated to raise additional revenues amid the prolonged fight against COVID-19.

TSB