President Rodrigo Duterte was welcomed by Sec. Lambino in his arrival on July 30 at Port Irene, Sta. Ana, Cagayan to witness the destruction of the 68 contraband luxury vehicles.

The event was attended by Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Raul Lambino, Bureau of Customs Commissioner (BOC) Isidro Lapeña, Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba, Sta. Ana Mayor Darwin Tobias, local and barangay officials, other CEZA officials, government employees and residents of this town.

President Duterte inspects the contraband vehicles bound for destruction. He is accompanied by Sec. Lambino, Commissioner Lapeña, Gov. Mamba and Mayor Tobias, among others.[/caption]

Among the luxury cars destroyed were Lamborghini Gallardo, Mercedes Benz S500L and SLK 280, Porsche Carrera, BMW M5, Ford Mustang, Nissan Fairlady Z, among others. Motorcycles included a Triumph Sprinter RS, five Harley Davidson’s and two Chopper’s. Car models from 2006 and motorcycle model from 2007 were the newest among the condemned vehicles.

The activity is part of CEZA’s compliance to the directive of President Duterte to publicly destroy smuggled items to deter smuggling. The President believes vehicle smugglers are still rampant and continue to profit from selling such items. Part of the President’s policy is to destroy smuggled luxury vehicles to discourage this.

Sec. Lambino had disclosed in March that a three-storey high Monument of Change (Bantayog ng Pagbabago) made from scrapes of the destroyed vehicles would be contructed in the Cagayan Freeport. This is meant to convey a strong message against corrupt and to remind everyone that real change for good governance has happened during the Duterte administration.

Meanwhile, Sec. Lambino also disclosed that part of the remaining vehicles that are yet to be destroyed would be given to different local government units (LGU’s) and national government agencies (NGA’s) in Cagayan for free. For this purpose, interested government agencies may submit a letter of intent addressed to the CEZA head. Priority will be given to the police and military groups for the disposal of Hammer units, while the rest will be distributed to other requesting government units. All requests will be subjected to evaluation based on the criteria set by CEZA.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ( seated second from right)) with Secretary Raul L. Lambino (third from right) Administrator and CEO of Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) Special Assistant to the President Christopher Bong Go (left) and Custom Commisioner Isidro Lapena, Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba and Mayor Darwin Tobias of Sta. Ana, Cagayan. witness the destruction of 68 illegally imported luxury vehicles worth P297 million including eight big motorcycles valued at P19 million at the Port Irene in Sta. Ana, Cagayan on July 30, 2018.