Cash mules

Is it really so hard to learn from the mistakes of others? Isn’t that free education in itself? Isn’t that a plus in the sense that someone else paid for your education, and the mistake that you were planning to make? Or in another aspect, commit?

In 2003, the sons of former AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia were caught bringing $100,000 in cash into the United States. The wife even boasted that there was more where it came from! This led to the investigation and filing of the now notorious P300 plus million peso plunder case against Garcia, and cases of smuggling against the two sons in the US. It all started with his criminal family getting caught. Fast forward to 2008, where another general, Eliseo de la Paz was caught in Russia with a bag full of Euros. Undeclared currency to the tune of a little over six million pesos! The money was confiscated, he and his group that included general’s wives were temporarily detained until they worked something out with Philippine authorities. De la Paz was then charged with graft, and asked to return whatever money he spent or supposedly borrowed from the PNP. Both criminal cases, both embarrassments to the country!

And now, we have the wife of a sitting senator-judge at the ongoing impeachment trial against Chief Justice Renato Corona getting caught trying to bring in $50,000 into the US. This was November of last year. They can’t even get their story straight! The wife said it was for her house, while the husband says it was for treatment of the very same ailment that former president Gloria Arroyo has! Talk about husband and wife! The money was confiscated, but she was able to leave the US before any kind of action was taken against her. What is astonishing is she went back to the US this month! So authorities took advantage of the break and arrested her as she landed. She now wears an ankle monitor so authorities can track all her movement, and not give them the slip once again. She also awaits trial. Why she did not learn from the experiences of the two prior cases mentioned is just beyond me! More so her returning to the scene of the crime. I guess it’s true what they say about…never mind. Drug mules, now cash mules!

From what I understand, it is not illegal to bring out, or in, large amounts of cash. What the law requires is that any amount in excess of P10,000 or $10,000 must have the proper documentation proving the money is yours, that it was acquired legitimately from known financial institutions like banks, and stating the purpose for the carried currency. Do that, and I guess one could bring a million of any country’s currency! It all has to do with the Anti Money Laundering Act being enforced all over the world. So why the non-declaration if it was for the house of medical treatment? Your guess is as good as everyone else’s! At a time when the letters SALN strikes terror in the hearts of many!

What I also don’t get is why are all these people getting caught in some other airport other than ours? Is it saying that airport inspectors or officials from other countries are far better than our own? Or do these VIPs just breeze through everyone? Well, we are one of the worst international airports in the world, so there should be no surprises there.