Car smuggling in Cebu has decreased – dealers

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Auto Dealers Association has noted a drop in the number of smuggled cars in Cebu.

“Car smuggling cannot be eliminated. But we observed a drop in the number of smuggled cars here,” said Lowell Francis Belarmino, president of CADA, in a press conference yesterday.

Jose Manuel Cuenco, CADA past president, said that one factor that contributed to the reduction of the number of smuggled cars is the strict implementation of registration by the Land Transportation Office.

“Istrikto na man gyud ang LTO ron sa pagrehistro sa mga sakyanan,” Cuenco said.

Both officials urged the public not to buy smuggled cars to avoid inconvenience in the registration.

“Gawas nga lisud iparehistro ang mga smuggled cars, ug marehistro man gani, maglisud sad og pag-renew,” said Cuenco, who is also the senior vice president of Toyota Mandaue South Cebu.

To recall, CADA brought the attention on the rampant car smuggling in Cebu in 2004 to the Bureau of Customs, which led to a congressional inquiry.

Cuenco said that in 2004, they discovered that car smuggling was rampant when they found out that the number of units sold is lesser than the number of cars being registered with the LTO.

“We saw in the list that we (car dealers in Cebu) only sold 500 units and yet the registered cars were tripled in number,” Cuenco said.

Cuenco, however, said that although they have observed the drop in the number of smuggled cars, they have no data as to the exact figure in terms of percentage.

Belarmino, manager of Peugeot Cebu, Inc., added that it was in 2004 when car smuggling reached to an alarming level.

CADA is an association of auto car dealers that has 14 members, including Ford, Peugeot, Toyota, among others.   (FREEMAN)