Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon may have been misled on the alleged undervaluation of the importation of 469 fire trucks consigned to the Bureau of Fire Protection in 2016.
The Kolonwel-Hubei Joint Venture complained that they were not treated fairly by the previous administration when their importation was not granted the tax exemption to which they were entitled to under the law. This exemption is reiterated under Joint Circular No. 1 of the Department of Budget and Management and Department of Finance dated 30 April 2014, said the Joint Venture through lawyer Mark Andrew M. Santiago.
The Joint Venture said it had saved the Bureau of Fire Protection an estimated P6,000,000,000 compared to other fire trucks delivered by their competitors. The Joint venture said that those behind this smear campaign are the losing bidders who had gained from the supply of overpriced firetrucks in the past.
They made the payment to facilitate the release and delivery of the fire trucks as required by the Circular which also allows its reimbursement in accordance with requisite procedure.
The amount of taxes and duties paid by the joint venture was based on the total value of the unit which included delivery charges, miscellaneous expenses, commissioning and testing expenses, handling fees, training expenses, sales tax, value-added tax and the delivery costs to end users.
This misunderstanding could have been avoided, had the previous officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government and Bureau of Fire Protection under the Aquino administration applied for the exemption, which they have done for other suppliers in the past.
The Joint Venture will file for reimbursement of the duties and taxes paid with the Bureau of Customs, through the implementing agency, Bureau of Fire Protection under Joint Circular No. 1 of the Department of Budget and Management and Department of Finance dated 30 April 2014.