P15-M firecrackers from China seized at Manila port

MANILA, Philippines - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) recently confiscated P15 million worth of firecrackers shipped in from China, some of which were marked as having been made in Bulacan, officials said yesterday.

Boxes of pop pop and piccolo, which were earlier declared as tissue paper and bedsheets, were discovered when BOC personnel under the X-ray Inspection Project (XIP) and the Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) made a preliminary inspection of the contents of three 40-foot shipping containers that recently arrived at the Port of Manila.

“How can they claim that these firecrackers were made in Bulacan when it was shipped in from China? Under our laws, these are also considered illegal because they failed to present an import permit from the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED),” XIP chief Lourdes Mangaoang said.

She added that what was alarming was that the firecrackers found in the shipping containers are the ones children normally buy during the holiday season.   

ESS director Joey Yuchongco said they will request that the items be subjected to a warrant of seizure and detention and turned over to the FED.

He said two of the containers were consigned to Blueharbor Commercial Inc., with offices in the PYF Building at the corner of Apacible and Leon Guinto streets in Ermita, Manila.

The remaining container was consigned to Denvar Trading in Herald Building on Muralla street at Intramuros, Manila.

Yuchongco said they have yet to verify the existence of the two consignees and if they have derogatory records.