P52.5-M used clothing seized at Misamis port set for disposal

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – The office of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Northern Mindanao will dispose of the used clothing worth P52.5 million it seized from the Mindanao International Container Port Terminal (MICPT) in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental last month.

Nash Guro, chief of BOC-Region 10 assessment division, said the agency is eyeing three options to dispose of the contrabands.

Guro said they might bury the clothing, burn it, or donate it to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Burning, he said, would require the agency to get the approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Donating it to the DSWD would require documentation, which Guro said, would be a tedious process.

He said the BOC should dispose of the shipment as soon as possible to prevent port congestion at the MICPT.

The shipment was considered to be the agency’s largest seizure of used clothing or ukay-ukay.

Alvin Enciso, chief of BOC-Cagayan de Oro customs intelligence and investigation service, said the agency was able to stop the release of 21 shipping containers last month.

The shipment was intercepted at the MICPT in Tagoloan, which is a sub-port of the Cagayan de Oro port.

The 21 shipping containers were covered by warrants of seizure and detention and forfeiture orders issued by Ruby Claudia Alameda, district collector of Cagayan de Oro port.

The shipment, which came from Malaysia and Korea, arrived at the MICPT between July 4 and 11.

It was consigned to Greener Pasture Marketing in Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City.

Meanwhile, the BOC-Region 10 will auction off this month the imported sugar it seized at the MICPT.