Government to demand unpaid duties from Laoag Air

The Bureau of Customs is set to demand at least P700,000 in unpaid duties from Laoag International Airlines (LIA), BOC Commissioner Antonio Bernardo said yesterday.

Bernardo said he will issue a demand letter anytime next week. BOC inspectors are currently verifying the amount of taxes due from LIA.

"We have to issue the demand letter first for the civil aspect of the case," Bernardo told The STAR. "Actually, we could already file the criminal case but I am asking my legal department to study it well."

In an eight-page report submitted to Bernardo, Customs inspectors said LIA paid less than its Customs duties for a Fokker plane marked L-410410 through misdeclaration.

Based on BOC records, LIA merely paid some P360,000 when recomputations by two Customs inspectors indicate that the import duties should be set above P1 million. While the final amount has yet to be determined, Bernardo said there was a "definite" underpayment of duties by LIA when it brought one of its Fokker planes into the country.

The criminal case against LIA will be based on the provisions of the Tariffs and Customs Code. Bernardo added that the criminal case can be filed against LIA’s incorporators or Paul Ng if he is the sole owner.

He expects the cases to be ready by next week.

LIA’s Flight 585, which crashed into Manila Bay last Nov. 11 minutes after takeoff, was also a Fokker plane.

Bernardo could not say if the plane that crashed was smuggled, too, as the investigation focused only on a particular plane. An anonymous letter tipped off the BOC about the smuggling some two months ago.

Bernardo said he will order an investigation into the procurement of other LIA planes.