Customs releases dollar shipments

The government allowed two currency shipments worth $11.624 million to leave the country after they were held overnight at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on suspicion they were part of alleged ill-gotten wealth of former President Joseph Estrada and his cronies.

Officials of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) issued the clearance for the release of the currency shipments at around 2 a.m. yesterday after they determined that the two shipments were covered by proper documents.

Airport Customs district collector Tess Roque said the shipments were regular and were being shipped by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp and Bank of America as a service to local banks.

Of the total amount, $7.3 million came from the HSBC while $4.3 million came from Bank of America.

Bank of America country manager Jose Querubin denied that Estrada or any of his cronies were clients of the bank as only local banks and not individuals maintain such accounts with them.

"If small banks just accept dollar deposits from their clients and keep them in their vaults, they would lose much just by paying interest. That’ s why they bring them out of the country to earn," Querubin said.

Querubin also said that they had been shipping out hard currency for the last two years "and the shipments were all above board."

The shipments were held on Friday by the Customs bureau on orders of Malacañang after receiving a "tip" from lawyer Homobono Adaza and anti-crime campaigner Lauro Vizconde that Estrada was exporting his money to the US.

"There have been many fantastic stories coming out. You don’t know what is true and what is just exagerated," said Presidential Spokesman Renato Corona.

Airport Customs officials had said the two banks were indeed "regular shippers, but because of the news that we received, we are holding these temporarily for verification."

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Gov. Rafael Buenaventura likewise said that the shipment of greenbacks was regularly done by authorized banks as a service to local banks.

Banking laws prohibit taking more than $10,000 out of the country without the permission from the BSP.

However, Adaza, lawyer for the anti-crime group Volunteers for Crime and Corruption (VACC), maintained that Estrada, his family and associates have exported and will try to ship their money out of the country.

"I strongly suspect these people because who will bring so much money out of the country at this time?" Adaza said. "As of now, shipment of money, especially through airlines, could only be suspected as illegal."

VACC had claimed on Friday that up to $16.2 million had been flown out of the country in three shipments from Tuesday to Thursday. An informant told them another large shipment would be made on Friday, prompting them to ask officials to block it.

For his part, Vizconde demanded that Bank of America and HSBC disclose the source of the money.