The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has officially announced that it will auction off seven luxury vehicles owned by contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya.
In a radio interview on Friday, October 24, BOC Deputy Chief of Staff Atty. Chris Noel Bendijo confirmed that the public auction is scheduled for November 15 and will also be livestreamed for transparency.
“Hindi na nila linalaban ‘yung epekto ng warrant… Hopefully, we will start the process of restitution by November 15,” said Bendijo.
According to him, the auction will be open to the public, but interested bidders must first register and pay the required fees.
Bendijo added that the registration of the vehicles with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will be part of the auction process.
“This is a revenue generation activity and it will go to the forfeiture fund… and eventually the Treasury,” he explained.
The planned auction was first revealed on October 16 by Integrity and Corruption Investigation (ICI) Executive Director Brian Hosaka, who said the BOC had already secured the right to dispose of the confiscated vehicles.
“Which now gives them right, gives the right for them to auction it off. So in a couple of weeks, I think, according to Commissioner Nepomuceno,” Hosaka stated.
He added, “They’re just going through the process of approval with the DOF and they will be auctioning this off. In that case, there will be an immediate recovery.”
The Discaya couple reportedly failed to pay around ₱100 million in taxes when purchasing the vehicles. The BOC said most of the seized luxury cars had no recorded payment of duties and taxes, prompting their forfeiture and inclusion in the upcoming public auction.