Supreme Court affirms forfeiture of cargo vessel used in rice smuggling

The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed a forfeiture order by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) on a cargo vessel that was used to smuggle 35,000 bags of rice in 2001.

In an 18-page decision penned by Associate Justice Minita Chico Nazario, the SC’s Third Division upheld the CTA’s decision ordering the forfeiture of M/V Neptune Breeze, which carried the registered name M/V Criston when it was seized by Customs authorities in the port of Tabaco, Albay for lack of clearance from the Philippine Coast Guard.

The SC dismissed the appeal filed by El Greco Ship Manning and Management Corp., the local agent of Atlantic Pacific Corp. Inc., registered owner of M/V Neptune Breeze.

“A review of the records of the present case unveils the overwhelming and utterly significant pieces of evidence that more than meet the quantum of evidence necessary to establish that M/V Neptune Breeze is the very same vessel as M/V Criston, which left the anchorage area in Legaspi, Albay, without the consent of the Customs authorities therein while under detention for smuggling 35,000 bags of imported rice,” the SC said.

While praising the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in cracking down on smugglers, the SC condemned the scheme of changing a vessel’s name to enter the country carrying smuggled goods.

“We strongly condemn the ploy used by M/V Neptune Breeze, assuming a different identity to smuggle goods into the country in a brazen attempt to defraud the government and the Filipino public and deprive them of much needed monetary resources,” the SC said.

Records showed that on Sept. 23, 2001, Customs authorities seized 35,000 bags of rice consigned to Antonio Chua Jr. and Carlos Carillo.

The BOC later ordered the seizure of M/V Criston, which was supposedly owned by Glucer Shipping Co. Inc.

The 35,000 bags of rice were later turned over by the BOC to Chua and Carillo after the two posted a bond of P31.4 million.

While the forfeiture case against M/V Criston was pending, a strong typhoon hit Albay and forced Customs authorities to allow the cargo vessel to dock in a safer harbor. But after the typhoon was over, the ship disappeared.

On Nov. 8, 2001, the BOC got a tip that the missing ship was seen off Bataan carrying the name M/V Neptune Breeze. The bureau then seized the vessel for failure to present a clearance from its last port of call.

It was then that El Greco Ship Manning and Management Corp. intervened in the vessel’s seizure.

In ruling against El Greco, the SC ruled that the BOC and the CTA’s Second Division did not commit grave abuse of discretion in ordering the forfeiture of the vessel.

It said both the BOC and CTA relied on the report of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory that the serial numbers of the engines and generators of the two vessels were identical. This, it said proves that M/V Neptune Breeze and M/V Criston are the same vessel.

The SC also said that records given by the Maritime Industry Authority also showed that M/V Criston is not a registered vessel.

“We take judicial notice that along with gross tonnage, net tonnage, length and breadth of the vessel, the serial numbers of its engine and generator are the necessary information identifying the vessel. It is thus highly improbable that two totally different vessels would have engines and generators bearing the very same serial numbers and the only logical conclusion is that they must be one and the same vessel,” the SC said.

The SC added that it was “highly unfathomable” for Glucer Shipping Co. Inc., the supposed owner of M/V Criston, to ignore the seizure proceedings of its vessel considering its enormous value.

“From the foregoing, we can only deduce that there is actually no Glucer Shipping and no M/V Criston. M/V Criston appears to be a mere fictional identity assumed by M/V Neptune Breeze so it may conduct its smuggling activities with little risk of being identified and held liable therefore,” the SC said.