By Brian Campued
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Tuesday night secured 12 luxury vehicles reportedly owned by contractor couple Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah “Sarah” Discaya.
This after the BOC only discovered two vehicles earlier in the day when it served a search warrant at the St. Gerrard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp.’s headquarters in Pasig City.
By evening, seven vehicles had been surrendered to the BOC, and the remaining three were located at authorized service centers.
All vehicles subject to the court-ordered search warrant had also been sealed by the BOC and guarded round-the-clock by its personnel and the Philippine Coast Guard.
BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the move is aimed at investigating whether the Discaya family’s luxury cars were legitimately bought or were smuggled.
“[Kapag] kulang ‘yan o may diperensya sa papel magkakaroon po ng problema ang pamilya. At kung mapapakita naman nila kung talagang sila ay buyers on good faith—meaning binili lang nila ito sa isang dealer or ahente—doon naman kami pupunta upang doon namin kukuhanin ang mga tamang dokumento,” Nepomuceno said in a media interview.
He also cited reports of several other luxury vehicles owned by the Discayas that were not subject of the search warrant, but clarified that pieces of evidence were not yet enough to secure a search warrant.
“Meron din kaming mga ibang impormasyon, at maganda na may mga nagsusumbong… kaya lang hindi sapat ‘yong impormasyon na ‘yon for the purpose of securing a search warrant kasi mahigpit din po ang judge,” Nepomuceno said.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday, Sarah Discaya admitted that she has at least 28 luxury cars, but senators cited Discaya’s past interviews where she mentioned owning about 40 luxury vehicles.
In his manifestation during Tuesday’s session, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said that aside from the 40 luxury cars, the Discaya couple owned around 80 vehicles.
“Nakakalulang yaman ito. Kung doon sa 28 luxury cars na inamin ni Sarah na pag-aari nila ay halos hindi ako makapaniwala, wala pa pala ‘yon sa kalahati ang kabuuang bilang ng kanilang mga sasakyan… This is totally outrageous!” Estrada said. (with reports from JM Pineda and Daniel Manalastas / PTV News)
-jpv
