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MANILA, Philippines -- In denying allegations of smuggling in Cagayan, Senator Juan Ponce-Enrile says Tuesday that his son-in-law is his eyes and ears in making sure that this does not happen in his native province.
“He is the one operating the yard where all these cars will go before they are registered so that there will be no smuggling. He is a private person who operates the yard,” said Enrile of James Kocher.
“Wala siyang kinalaman sa smuggling. Walang smuggling dun [He doesn't have anything to do with smuggling. There's no smuggling there]," Enrile told a press conference Wednesday.
Enrile issued the statement amid an American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) report that The Cagayan Export Zone (CEZ), a free port that was created at the instance of Enrile, has replaced Subic Freeport as the place where imported second-hand luxury vehicles enter the country.
"The only thing is I don't want anybody to fool around with the operation there, to cheat the government," he said during a press conference.
Kocher, an American citizen, is married to Enrile's only daughter Katrina.
Denying the allegation that there is smuggling in his turf, Enrile said, "We challenge anybody to go there, examine the records, and find out if there are any cars being smuggled. There is no smuggling in Cagayan. I challenge Amcham, Ford, Chevrolet, General Motors, anybody to show a single case of smuggling [there]."
The senator said he asked Kocher to work in his behalf because he could not oversee this himself. He said Kocher was a private citizen who owned a five-hectare lot where the imported used cars were taken from the ship.
He said this yard, enclosed by eight-feet-high walls, was secure and that no cars could leave without proper duties being paid the government. He said cars would stay around a month in the yard while documents for their release were being processed.
Enrile said he would stop the importation of used cars referred by Amcham in its report if any of the car assemblers in the country -- whether American or Japanese -- could produce vehicles that ordinary Filipinos could afford.
He said American cars were not popular in the country because they were expensive, gas guzzlers, and provided poor service.
"Their spare parts are not only expensive, but they come six months later," he said.
Enrile said the opening of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, which has jurisdiction over Port Irene, has generated some 3,500 jobs "from zero" and about P100 million a year in revenues for the government.
