Customs files P5-B smuggling raps vs Phoenix Petroleum

Updated 8:26 p.m. — For its alleged fraudulent shipments worth P5.1 billion, independent oil firm Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc., which is listed among the country's top 250 corporations, is facing smuggling charges from the Bureau of Customs. The BOC on Thursday filed the complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ), where a panel of prosecutors will conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is probable cause to file a case against the respondents before the appropriate court. Named respondents to the complaint were Phoenix president and CEO Dennis Ang Uy, and Customs broker Jorlan Cabanes, who supposedly connived with the oil firm on its alleged smuggling activities. Uy allegedly violated the Tariff and Customs Code by failing to pay excise and value-added taxes and submit import documents such as invoices and bills of lading for the shipments of various petroleum products from June 2010 to April 2011. In a phone interview with GMA News Online on Thursday, Phoenix spokesman Raymond Zorilla was surprised at the charges lodged against the company, saying they have yet to receive a copy of the complaint. "We were never investigated (before). We're a legitimate company and our records are open to the public, being a publicly listed company," he said. He likewise said that they will be "fighting out" the matter with the BOC. "We will fight this out, we will defend our integrity," he said. In a separate statement, Zorilla denied the oil firm has evaded its tax obligations. "The company has been paying taxes religiously and its records will clearly belie these unfounded accusations against it. As a matter of fact, the company is among the top taxpayers in Davao City, where it is based," Zorilla said. He decried the supposed lack of due process from the Customs Bureau. "In this case, there was no such process taken making the filing of the complaint highly unjust, arbitrary and oppressive. It unfairly damages all the hard and honest work that the company has exerted in building its name. The company does not take this accusation lightly and is currently consulting legal counsel on all possible courses of actions," it added. Alleged smuggling activities In its complaint, the Bureau of Customs said that Phoenix's nine import entries from Thailand did not match the volume and value reported by an independent surveyor tapped by the firm. "Subsequent verifications by the RATS [Run After the Smugglers] group revealed that between June 2010 and April this year, Phoenix made several importations of various petroleum products with a combined dutiable value of P5.144 billion," said Customs commissioner Angelito Alvarez at a news briefing. The bureau's investigation also showed that Phoenix brought in P459-million worth of petroleum products "without any supporting import entry declarations, effectively depriving the government of lawful duties and taxes on the said shipments." Likewise, Phoenix allegedly failed to submit the required importation documents covering 31 import entries from June 2010 to April 2011. The aggregate amount of the shipment was valued at P4.7 billion. 'Fastest growing oil company' Phoenix in 2009 ranked 211 among the country's top firms. According to its company website, Phoenix was incorporated in May 2002 in Davao City as a family business under the name Davao Oil Terminal Services Corporation (DOTSCO). The company started operating in its current form in January 2004 when it distributed petroleum products to various commercial entities in Mindanao. In August 2006, the company was officially renamed Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. At Thursday's press briefing, Alvarez noted that Phoenix is "perhaps the fastest growing oil company" because its 2011 first quarter revenue of P6.1 billion was 122-percent higher than the P2.75 billion it made during the same period last year. — With Kim Tan/VVP/VS, GMA News