The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Bureau of Customs (BoC) held a public auction on seven of the confiscated luxury vehicles owned by contractor Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya and wife Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya but only three were sold.
The auction, held at the South Harbor just a week after the vehicles were opened for public viewing, generated only P38.21 million for government
The three sold vehicles generated only ₱38.21 million, two of which were bought by Simplex Industrial Corp. and Lesentrell Jewelries.
All seven vehicles were voluntarily surrendered last October.
Customs commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said the vehicles lacked proper documentation and acquired through corruption.
During the auction’s opening, Nepomuceno said, “The money we may recover is the symbolism and the principle that if you do something wrong, you will be held accountable, and that the nation’s resources should benefit our people.”
Meanwhile, former Supreme Court associate justice Andres Reyes Jr. and chairman of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) added that recovering stolen assets is crucial in the government’s anti-corruption efforts, stressing that “without it, the financial damage caused by these people cannot be repaired.”
Reyes said BoC is successfully recovering the duties and taxes that should have gone to public coffers. “This is justice in practice.”
BoC discovered that import entries of the seven vehicles had questionable certificates of payment. Search warrants were issued first on August 22, the time when the Discayas were found to have engaged in several substandard and ghost flood control projects.
Some of the Discaya luxury vehicles were first turned over to ICI and confiscated by BoC after they were found to have been acquired using kickbacks from flood control projects awarded by different Discaya companies.
Those successfully sold at the auction were the two Benzes at ₱15,611,710 and ₱15 million respectively, bought by Simplex Industrial; and the Lincoln Navigator at ₱7.1 million.
Other auctioned vehicles included a 2022 Toyota Tundra (price ₱4,994,079); 2023 Toyota Sequoia (₱7,258,800.36); 2023 Rolls-Royce Cullinan (₱45,314,391.11); 2022 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMD (₱14,104,768); 2019 Mercedes-Benz G500 Brabus (₱7,843,239.43); 2021 Lincoln Navigator L (₱7,038,726.14); and a 2022 Bentley Bentayga (₱17,311,121.93).
The BoC expects to generate ₱103.87 million from the auction of the luxury cars to be remitted to the national treasury.
Another six luxury vehicles already in government custody are under verification for possible auction, potentially generating another ₱120 million.