BOC exec cheated on collection report?

MANILA, Philippines — Did a Bureau of Customs (BOC) official, assigned to the Port of Manila, pull a fast one to hit the port’s collection target of P7.4 billion for August?

Documents obtained by The STAR show that Port of Manila district collector Erastus Austria allegedly asked Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. to file its tariffs and duties payments on a recent shipment of crude oil with the Port of Manila instead of the Port of Batangas, where the shipment was unloaded at PSPC’s Tabangao refinery.

Documents showed that as of Aug. 28, the Port of Manila had a deficit of more than P1.5 million and was still short by P800 million on Aug. 31.

However, three days later, Austria declared that the Port of Manila reached its target of P7.4 billion for August.

Austria did not give a reason for asking PSPC to file its tariff and duties payments with the Port of Manila.

The filing was allegedly facilitated in coordination with Jorge Pascual Jr., who works for PSPC’s customs broker, Safe Seas Shipping Agency.

He invoked the BOC rule on the transshipment of goods, which allows for non-payment of tariffs and duties at the port of entry.

Insiders said the tanker that brought in PSPC’s crude oil shipment from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Batangas on Sept. 1 and unloaded its cargo at the firm’s Tabangao facility on the same day.

PSPC could not have possibly paid its duties totaling P448,606,999 in August, insiders said.

Austria, also the spokesman of BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña, allegedly “made it appear that he hit his target by crediting to the Port of Manila the collections which legally belong to the Port of Batangas,” insiders said.

They cited Section 601 of the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, which states that “consumption entries shall be filed, and duties and taxes shall be paid, at the port of discharge.” Austria, who is from Davao, is reportedly a godson of President Duterte.

PSPC, in a statement sent to The STAR, refuted allegations that it was coerced. The firm said it pays the correct amount of import taxes and other relevant charges for all its importations and works closely with the BOC.

“We maintain that PSPC complies with all laws and BOC regulations,” it said. – With Danessa Rivera