MANILA – Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III has ordered the Bureau of Customs to release seized rice and other food items to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for disaster relief related to typhoon “Ompong” in Northern Luzon and other areas.
“Please release all seized rice and foodstuff in your possession to the DSWD for possible disaster relief,” Dominguez told BOC Commissioner Isidro Lapeña.
The Department of Finance said the directive was in response to President Duterte’s order to all government agencies to ensure the highest level of readiness for the typhoon.
“Government-to-government transfers in emergency situations can be legally fast-tracked,” the Finance chief said.
Lapeña reported to the Finance department that the bureau seized in July shipments of 50,000 sacks of rice in some 100 container vans at the Manila International Container Port (MICP). The haul was valued at P125 million.
“The shipment from Thailand was consigned to the Sta. Rosa Farm Products Corp., but without the necessary import permits,” Lapeña said.
Goods that are up for disposal “may be donated to another government agency or declared for official use by the Bureau, after approval of the Secretary of Finance, or sold at a public auction within 30 days after a 10-day notice posted at a public place at the port where the goods are located and published electronically or in a newspaper of general circulation,” according to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA).
The law also mandates that goods suitable for shelter, food items, clothing materials and medicines “may be donated to the DSWD.” (GMA News)
