Importation ban on used cars meant to hit JPE?

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – An opposition senatorial candidate assailed yesterday the re-imposition of the importation ban on used cars at the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, that was allegedly intended to hit Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and favor the administration senatorial ticket.

“The timing is suspicious,” Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, a senatorial bet of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) told The STAR.

She said the administration is hitting Enrile, a native of Cagayan, at the expense of nearly 4,000 provincemates facing imminent economic dislocation as the result of the ban on car importation.

She said the importation ban only came out at the middle of the campaign period.

“The administration is lashing out at the Senate President with several controversies and is holding his home province hostage using this CEZA issue for political purposes,” she added.

Third district provincial board member Alphonse Jean Ponce, a member of UNA, lamented that their rivals have claimed that CEZA and Port Irene in Sta. Ana are a smugglers’ hub to embarrass the Enriles.

Then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had issued Executive Order 156 that imposed the first ban on the importation of used cars at CEZA.

The Court of Appeals lifted the ban in 2011 after the Automotive Rebuilding Industry of Cagayan (Aric) filed a motion.

The Supreme Court’s Second Division affirmed the validity of the ban last Jan. 7 and this is again being contested by Aric.

As a result, the Bureau of Customs and the Land Transportation Office have suspended the processing of registration papers of the imported used cars.

But despite the uncertain car importation industry, CEZA will soon open duty-free shops in Santa Ana, similar to the stores at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in Olongapo City and Clark Field in Pampanga. 

CEZA said that the duty-free shops are set to open inside Port Irene by the second quarter of the year.

Port authorities hope that the new industry would attract more investments, tourism, and provide employment opportunities in the free-port in the wake of the controversy besetting its used car importation business.

CEZA administrator Jose Marie Ponce said they are now considering re-exporting the cars covered by the ban to other countries in Africa and even Bangladesh.

Stakeholders hope that the duty-free industry would further prop up the economy of the special zone, especially Santa Ana, which rose from obscurity to become a second-class municipality since CEZA instituted several economic activities in the area. – With Charlie Lagasca