Bibit, 2 other BoC execs face graft raps

The Office of the Ombudsman yesterday recommended the filing of graft charges before the Sandiganbayan against former Cebu District Collector Billy Bibit and two other Customs Cebu officials.

In a 19-page resolution, the Office of the Ombudsman said charges for violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-graft and Corrupt Practices Act will be filed against Bibit, Customs examiner Eunice T. Aguilar and Intelligence Officer 1 Troy S. Tan.

Bibit is no longer with the bureau after he resigned in 2005 when he was replaced as the Cebu Port Collector.

The anti-graft office said the case against Bibit, Aguilar and Tan stemmed from a complaint filed by Selpha Trinidad for the alleged illegal seizure of her shipment consisting of 600 metric tons of Canadian Wheat in 2005.

Trinidad, in her complaint, said that the unloading of her shipment was stopped by the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), allegedly for lacking the proper import documents. Trinidad however explained that she was merely a local buyer and bought the wheat from Quality Grains and Feeds Corporation, a local supplier.

Trinidad said that after presenting the local sales documents covering the purchase, the CIIS allowed her to proceed with the unloading of the shipment.

However, two days later, Trinidad said that Bibit issued a hold order, stopping the unloading of the shipment again for allegedly not being covered by proper import documents.

She was then told by Tan to secure copies of the import documents from the importer. But when Trinidad presented the documents, Tan questioned the classification of the wheat, saying that the shipment consisted of feed grade wheat and was supposed to be subject to duties at the rate of seven percent and not of food grade that was subject to only three percent duties as what appeared on the import entry.

Tan, according to Trinidad, also insisted that she pay the four percent tariff differential and the redemption value amounting to P1.37 million before the shipment could be released.

Trinidad said examination by the Lipa Quality Control Center and the Department of Agriculture Region 7 Office confirmed that the wheat shipment was food grade.

"This Office is not questioning the authority of the Port of Cebu to initiate seizure proceedings but good sense dictates that the authority ought to be exercised discreetly especially amid circumstances suggesting legitimacy of a shipment's source," the Office of the Ombudsman said noting that the illegal seizure of the shipment caused Trinidad to incur financial losses amounting to P1.72 million. - Philippine Star News Service