Bribe try leads to seizure of pirated DVDs

The Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) said yesterday it has seized a shipment containing thousands of pirated digital video discs (DVDs) at the Port of Manila following a bribery attempt from the broker of the illegal cargo.

PASG head Undersecretary Antonio Villar said the 40-footer van was seized after the arrest of a representative of Rex Casiguran Brokerage, identified as Eduardo Camugao, who tried to bribe PASG men for the release of the smuggled DVDs last Thursday.

Camugao handed P10,000 cash to PASG Special Operation Group (SOG) chief Benny Antiporda, who is also vice president of National Press Club.

The PASG claimed Chief Inspector Jeff Fanged and Senior Inspector Joenel Aurelio witnessed the bribe attempt at about 11:40 p.m. Thursday and immediately arrested Camugao, who was charged with corrupting a public official the following day before the Department of Justice.

The bribe attempt added to Villar’s suspicion that the van was loaded with questionable goods. He immediately ordered a thorough inspection of the container van with the help of personnel from the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

The van yielded thousands of pirated DVDs that were not declared in the bill of lading. The lawmen also found that the other imported DVDs were without import permits from the Optical Media Board (OMB) and the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

Villar ordered the confiscation of all the contents of the container van from China, and scheduled the auction of the goods in favor of the government. His order is based on the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines Section 2503, which states that “any misdeclared or undeclared imported articles (or) items found upon examination shall be forfeited in favor of the government.”

Villar, who believes his action has sent a stern warning to other port players with notorious deals at the BOC, reminded importers “to go legal, and I swear that smooth business will follow.” – Edu Punay, Paolo Romero