Ban on used car imports at Port Irene: Cagayan court to rule on TRO extension

TUGUEGARAO CITY - It’s make or break today for importers of second-hand vehicles at the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport as the court decides on their petition for an extension of the temporary restraining order (TRO) earlier granted to them to continue their trade.

Aparri (Cagayan) Regional Trial Court Judge Rolando Velasco will rule on whether or not to grant the petition of the Association of Rebuilding Industries in Cagayan (ARIC) for an extension of the initial 72-hour TRO that lapsed last Saturday.

The TRO restrained Cagayan Export Zone Authority (CEZA) administrator Jose Mari Ponce from enforcing his order stopping the registration and release of imported second-hand vehicles from Port Irene in Sta. Ana town.

Ponce’s order was in compliance with President Arroyo’s Executive Order No. 156 banning the entry of used second-hand cars into the country.

The other day, the Bureau of Customs also announced the full implementation of EO 156, which ARIC members said is unconstitutional.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said the implementation of EO 156 came after the Solicitor General ruled that the ban on the importation of second-hand cars covers all ports in the country.

However, ARIC president Jimmy Vicente said they are confident that Velasco would extend the TRO.

“I’m pretty confident that the court will take into consideration the severe and irreparable damage that the stoppage would have on the industry and our employees, notwithstanding the thousands of jobs in the downstream industries depending on us,” he said.

“We believe the judge will grant our petition because if he found our case without merit, he would not have granted the TRO in the first place,” he added.

Once the TRO issue is settled, Vicente said they would go down to the merits of the case, especially the constitutionality of EO 156.

Meanwhile, Vicente said his group is amenable to the idea of re-exporting the cars imported through CEZA in case the judge rules against them.

“That is one option we are looking into just in case. The other one would be to dismantle the cars and sell them as car parts,” he said.

He insisted though that they would continue their case “up to the Supreme Court, if necessary.”