The re-electionist congressman made the revelation based on a report submitted to him by the Bureau of Customs. The report is an accounting of the 52 smuggled luxury sport utility vehicles Customs seized in Subic in 1998 and 1999.
The vehicles were turned over to Malacañang upon orders of Estrada who later assigned them to Cabinet members and other officials.
The assignment, according to the 11-member House panel that prosecuted Estrada in his impeachment trial, violated the Customs and Tariff Code and the Constitution.
Gunigundo said a 1998 Land Cruiser-type V8 Lexus 470 is still with Lacson, while a similar model Prado remains assigned to former Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Dakila Fonacier.
Reached by The STAR for comment, Lito Banayo, Lacson’s campaign manager, said Lacson turned over the Lexus to Col. Astrinio Cabula, administrative officer of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), a week after he resigned as PNP chief.
Banayo, general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority during the Estrada administration, said Lacson is asking Cabula to immediately return the vehicle to Customs.
Lacson, while head of the PNP, was concurrently PAOCTF chief. He is now an opposition senatorial candidate.
Of the 52 expensive sport utility vehicles (SUVs) seized in Subic, 39 have been sold through public auction for P79.7 million, or an average of more than P2 million each.
The highest price paid for a Lexus similar to the one assigned to Lacson was P3.6 million. Prados auctioned by Customs sold for as much as P2.1 million apiece.
Gunigundo asked Customs officials to expedite the sale of the remaining "hot" cars and other vehicles to be turned over to it by government agencies upon instructions from President Arroyo.
The President wants her Cabinet members and other officials to shun luxury vehicles. Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin has said officials can use only vehicles with a maximum of 2000cc engine displacement.
Gunigundo also wants Customs to account for eight SUVs seized in Cebu at about the same time that the 52 luxury vehicles were impounded in Subic.
He said the eight were not included in the bureau’s report and can be considered missing.
He added that the eight were also sent to Malacañang after their seizure.
Meanwhile, Amando Dayrit, head of the public affairs office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, clarified yesterday that the Land Cruiser DENR officer-in-charge Josemari Gerochi is using is his personal vehicle.
He said former Secretary Antonio Cerilles was assigned a Ford van, although he often used personal vehicles.
As for the brand new Nissan Patrol Safaris of the mines bureau, which is under the DENR, Dayrit said these are part of a project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The all-terrain vehicles are being used by JICA officials and not by the bureau director and his assistant as employees have reported, he added.