Customs seizes ₱42.5 million worth of rice from Vietnam‏

 

Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon inspects the ₱42.5 million worth of smuggled rice from Vietnam seized at Subic Bay Freeport yesterday. EDD GUMBAN . Photo by PhilSTAR

The Bureau of Customs (BoC) seized ₱42.5 million worth of smuggled rice from Vietnam, the biggest haul of illegal agricultural product importation seized by the BOC  under the Aquino administration.

BOC Commissioner Rufino Biazon said the 90 units of 40-footer container vans arrived at the Port of Subic (POS) and were misdeclared as construction materials and gypsum boards.

"This is a large scale attempt to smuggle rice into the country by misdeclaring the illegal shipment. We will vigorously pursue charges against those involved in this attempt," he said.

The shipments arrived in two batches, the first 50 was last June 13, 2012 while the remaining 40 units came in last June 20.

Biazon said they are thinking of turning the seized items to the National Food Authority (NFA) or sell it through auction as additional revenue for the bureau.

However, the shipment would be subjected to tests by the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) to ensure that it is fit for human consumption before they are disposed off.

The Food and Drug Administration will check the rice to ensure that they are not contaminated with chemicals before they are disposed of.

The shipments were allegedly consigned to Masagana Import Export, Inc., of 2161 P. Paterno St., De La Paz, Binan, Laguna and Oriental Tradelink Express, Inc. of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

A background check will be conducted on the said firms.

The seizure was a joint operation of the Office of the Commissioner's Revenue Enhancements for the Attainment of Collection Targets (REACT) Task Force, Enforcement Group (EG) and the POS District Collector's Office.

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₱6.5 Billion Funding linking Roads to Las Vegas, Manila Philippines

Pagcor City is Asia's Las Vegas-like gaming and entertainment complex that PAGCOR proposed to offer on 8 km² of land on the reclamation area of Manila Bay, Philippines. It lies the western side of Roxas Boulevard and south of SM Corporate District (SM Mall of Asia), part of Parañaque City. Investments to the project can reach up to $15 billion US Dollar, which is scaled down from the more recent $20 billion US Dollar budget.

The four companies granted licenses to build, own and operate integrated resorts at the government's Entertainment City are pouring in up to ₱6.5 billion to fund an elevated road project that would link the airport to the 100-hectare Las Vegas-style casino complex.

This was disclosed by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chairman and chief executive officer Cristino Naguiat Jr.

In an interview with The STAR, Naguiat said the amount would be split among the four investor-groups but to be coursed through Pagcor as the proponent of the Entertainment City.

"Best chance is by next week, we (Pagcor) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will sign an agreement for the (road project)," Naguiat said.

DPWH is the proponent of the ₱15.86-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway Project, which is among the government's infrastructure projects lined up under its Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program.

Naguiat said that under the agreement to be signed with the DPWH, Pagcor, through the four licensees of Entertainment City, would bankroll part of the cost of building the road.

The toll operator would then pay Pagcor after 10 years.

"It will be a soft loan to be paid after 10 years with almost no interest," Naguiat said.

The four licensees are: 

• Andrew Tan's Alliance Global 
• Enrique Razon's Bloomberry Resorts 
• Japanese tycoon Kazuo Okada 
• Taipan Henry Sy's Belle Corporation.

According to data from the DPWH, the NAIA Expressway project involves the maintenance and improvement of the existing NAIA Expressway Phase I road and the construction of Phase 2 of the NAIA Expressway, which is expected to decongest traffic between the different airport terminals.

"The alignment for Phase 2 involves the construction of a 4.83-kilometer road from the NAIA Expressway Phase 1 following the existing road alignment over Sales Avenue, Andrews Avenue, Domestic Road and NAIA Road, and ends with entry andexit ramps at the Roxas Boulevard and Manila Cavite Toll Expressway, the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard and Pagcor's Entertainment City," the government's PPP Center said in a separate statement.

The total length of the NAIA Express way is 9.37 kilometers and is expected to ease traffic going to and from the Manila International Airport at the NAIA complex.

Furthermore, it will also provide direct links to passenger terminals 1 and 2, including the International Cargo Terminal.

PhilSTAR

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Russia fired and detains 36 Chinese fishermen poaching the East

As the tension of the Philippine Versus China heated up for Chinese poaching the waters of the Philippines; China also faces embarrassment for the same conflict with Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam, and their close ally Russia.

The Russian coast guard seized two Chinese vessels and detained 36 fishermen Tuesday (July 18, 2012) after they were allegedly found fishing in Russian-controlled waters in the Sea of Japan, according to state media.

The consulate said it was notified by the coastal service in Russia's far eastern Primorsky region the two ships were seized because they had entered Russia's exclusive economic zone.

Warning shots were fired at one vessel during a three-hour pursuit by Russian Coast Guard, which eventually rammed the vessel and soldiers fired directly on the ship when sailors resisted being boarded, according to Russia's state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency, quoting a spokesman for the local border guards services, said a coast guard boat was forced to open fire to stop a poaching fishing vessel in the Sea of Japan. The spokesman said the vessel, flying the flag of China, refused to stop on demand from the coast guards and tried to escape, resulting in a three-hour chase.

The news agency said the vessel carried about 25 tons of squid and quoted the spokesman as saying 17 Chinese nationals failed to present documents allowing them to fish. The report said no one was injured.

One Chinese fisherman fell overboard during the seizure of one of the vessels and is missing, according to Russia's Coast Guard. The other 36 sailors are being detained in Russia.

The two vessels were detained for entering an exclusive economic zone in Russia's far eastern Primorsky region, the Chinese agency Xinhua said.

In a sign that Beijing is taking the incident seriously, conciliatory remarks by a Chinese consular official in the Russian border town of Khabarovsk were swiftly disavowed by Beijing, according to Chinese wire services. He had said that China "would not seek to politicize the incident."

The Chinese foreign ministry said the official who made the comment had been sent home in January and could not have made the remark, according to Interfax.

During Monday's incident one of the Chinese vessels tried to ram the Russian ship according to a Russian Coast Guard spokesman quoted on Russian news agency Interfax.

The Russian ship fired warning shots and then opened fire on the Chinese vessel, though no one was killed or injured from the shelling. The Russian spokesman said the Chinese sailor fell overboard during the collision between the two ships.

He also said that the Chinese sailors at first "resisted" Russian boarding attempts but surrendered after being fired upon.

The two ships were from the city of Weihai in China's eastern Shandong province, Chinese agency Xinhua said.

It was not the first time the Russian Coast Guard had fired on Chinese trawlers and detained them for poaching fish in Russian waters. Earlier incidents put a strain on relations between the two countries, who fought a brief border war in 1969.

Relations between Beijing and Moscow have steadily warmed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but the two countries maintain an uneasy partnership and Russia fears Chinese attempts to assert regional hegemony.  

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