Japanese caught with P1M to be charged with smuggling

MANILA, Philippines – A Japanese caught with P1 million in 1,000-peso bills on Friday will be charged with smuggling before the Pasay City prosecutor’s office today.

Hisao Sakan is now under the care of his wife, Marilyn Manansala, in Angeles City who took custody of him from Customs officials Saturday and promised to bring him for inquest this afternoon.

Tess Roque, Customs deputy collector for passenger services, said Hisao is a frequent visitor to the country.

The amount in excess of P10,000 has been seized and might not be recovered because of the Bangko Sentral regulations, she added.

General Manager Alfonso Cusi of the Manila International Airport Authority has ordered Terminal 1 manager Bing Lina to produce all duty personnel near the X-ray machine at the final check last Friday to line up for proper identification by Hisao.

Hisao has accused two security personnel near the X-ray machine of having taken some P38,000 out of his bag that contained P600,000 in 1,000-peso bills.

Another P400,000 was taken from his trolley bag, which he had checked in, he added.

Meanwhile, departing and arriving passengers have become more responsible in declaring how much money they have in their bags since retired Philippine National Police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz was caught with 105,000 euros at the Moscow International Airport in Russia last month, according to Roque.

Roque said the public had a positive reaction to the incident because they were educated and now know what consequences await them if they get caught with cash that they have not declared at Customs.

Carrying foreign currency amounting to more than $10,000 is prohibited, she said.

Roque said the law only allows a passenger to carry P10,000 in Philippine currency in and out of the country.

Those who carry huge amounts of foreign currencies reason out that they are building a house, or that they are simply on their way to Las Vegas to gamble, she added. – Rudy Santos, Michael Punongbayan