Registration of imported cars at Port Irene halted

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) suspended yesterday the registration of more than 1,000 imported second-hand vehicles at Port Irene in Cagayan in compliance with the opinion of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) that Executive Order 516 which bans the importation of second-hand vehicles covers all ports in the country.

LTO chief Alberto Suansing said he has directed the LTO regional office in Aparri, Cagayan to suspend the registration of imported vehicles that have no clearances from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“The LTO is the last stop in the processing of papers. If there are no authority to release from the BIR and a certificate of payment from the BOC, then we cannot register the vehicle,” Suansing said.

The LTO has no report on the number of vehicles pending registration at Port Irene, but the Auto Rebuilding Industry of Cagayan (ARIC) said the OSG opinion affects at least 1,000 vehicles.

ARIC president Jayme Vicente, in a phone interview from Port Irene, said they are set to question the legality of EO 516.

“We will take the bull by its horn. We are taking legal action but I cannot reveal the merits of the case,” he said.

Vicente said their group welcomes the OSG opinion, as this will be the basis for their legal action.

Vicente also confirmed that the BOC and other government agencies have stopped processing the papers of some 1,000 vehicles, mostly passenger vans and pickups.

“The Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA) has also suspended giving gate passes to second-hand vehicles,” he said.

Vicente, however, said they would continue importing second-hand vehicles at the Cagayan Freeport while they await the results of the case on EO 516.

“We are confident that we can get a favorable decision from the courts,” he said.