Philippine’s President Destroys Smuggled Luxurious Cars Costs N432million
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte had bulldozers destroy $1.2 million worth of smuggled cars at the Bureau of Customs, days after promising to dispose of vehicles brought into the Southeast Asian country illegally.
Some of the cars were luxury models, valued as high as $115,000. Yet, it took just minutes for them to be reduced to nothing more than scrap metal.
He was on hand to watch Jaguars, BMWs,Corvette Stingray Lexus and SUVs be crushed and He said “Give it to the buyer of steel”. “They cannot have cars like that. But they can get something, make toys out of it.”
Last year alone, the Bureau of Customs seized $2.93 million worth of smuggled cars, part of a greater $866 million in seized goods according to government data.
The finance minister said
“It does not pay to evade taxes in the Philippines so might as well stop trying, because you will never succeed”, just as 20 vehicles were about to be destroyed at a Manila port. Another 10 were bulldozed in ports in the cities of Davao and Cebu.
Vehicle smuggling is a big problem in the Philippines where car taxes can go as high as 50 percent for cars valued over approximately $77,000.
Normally, seized smuggled vehicles are impounded and then auctioned with the government taking the proceeds. He said ‘I will pay for them, no problem,’ Duterte said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his bloody war on drugs and disdain for criminals, has promised to usher in a ‘golden age of infrastructure’ over six years, worth $180 billion. He has launched a comprehensive tax reform programme to help fund it.
President Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ 16th president in June 2016. Duterte, 71, won the presidential election in May by 16 million votes, or about 38%, an unassailable lead that forced his three opponents to throw in the towel one after the other.
Promising that “change is coming” Duterte — called “the Punisher” for going after alleged criminals and drug dealers — captured the imagination of the masses long suffering from chronic corruption and high crime.
