Mystery of Missing Ship |
GOTCHA by Jarius Bondoc
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Only David Copperfield could've pulled the trick - or so it seemed. At dusk last Christmas Eve the huge cargo ship MV Great Faith disappeared into thin air from the Port of Cebu, with its contraband of 30,000 sacks of smuggled rice. The hand was quicker than the eye. Nobody, not even the Customs men guarding the confiscated ship round the clock, saw what happened. But Filipino government officials must really be infinitely better at hocus-pocus than the celebrated American magician. In the ensuing investigation of the disappearance, they are colluding with each other to prevent the filing of criminal charges against
higher-ups, only against the proverbial small fry. Mystery had surrounded the ship even before the great escape. NBI agents looking into the case found out that Cebu-Customs deputy collector Santiago Maravillas had ordered the seizure of the smuggled rice on Sept. 13, 2001 although he had no authority to do so. He was feuding at that time with his superior, district collector Roberto Sacramento, and wanted to prove his worth with their bosses in Manila. Their squabbling had in fact reached the halls of the Senate where they each had padrinos; Finance Sec. Jose Isidro Camacho was even questioned during his confirmation hearings for disciplining them. Weeks later on Oct. 2 Sacramento trashed Maravillas's unauthorized order to confiscate. On the mere say-so of the ship owner, he declared that "documents were in order and the rice was of local origin." Sacramento did not bother to summon his own men from the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service, who had gotten word of the incoming contraband from abroad. Nor did he ask those from the Enforcement and Security Service, who were the first to board the MV Great Faith and ask for authenticity papers that the ship captain could not produce. Word of the feuding and remanded confiscation reached Customs chief Titus Villanueva in Manila. A quick review of the reports showed that the rice was indeed smuggled. Under Customs rules, Villanueva ordered the ship and contraband forfeited in favor of the government. Yet both Sacramento and Maravillas did nothing. Under a recent agreement with the National Food Authority, Customs officials are supposed to transfer smuggled rice within two days of forfeiture to the nearest NFA warehouse. There's a big one in Cebu, waiting for such rice that NFA could sell to the poor through rolling stores at only P11 per kilo. The 30,000 sacks of rice never reached the poor. Two months passed, with five Customs guards assigned to take day and night shifts at the wharf. On Dec. 24, Sacramento went absent. He supposedly was visiting his wife in the US, but Villanueva does not recall approving any official leave. Customs offices in fact were supposed to be open for the holidays, not covered by the week-long vacation granted by President Arroyo. Also on that day the five guards came upon a big amount of cash to get together for sumptuous dining and long drinking. By dusk, four were so drunk that they went home. The fifth, Julius Villarin, was listed for the night shift. Yet he too went home, supposedly to change into fresh clothes. When he returned at 4 o'clock the next morning, the ship and cargo were gone. He contacted his fellow guards. They reported the incident at 6 a.m. Villanueva recalled both Sacramento and Maravillas to Manila, and assigned the Iloilo-Customs district collector to take over Cebu. He also asked his Intelligence and Enforcement Group to review their actions that led to the escape. Camacho called in the NBI, also to investigate the escape and the events leading up to it. President Arroyo in turn ordered the justice department to determine the criminal culpability of the Customs officials and guards who messed up the case. The state prosecutor assigned to review the NBI and IEG reports recommended that both Sacramento and Maravillas be charged with graft, along with the guards, for sleeping on their jobs. The mystery goes on. The Cebu Coast Guard unit cannot explain to this day why it let the MV Great Faith leave port without clearance. Navy ships and Air Force planes have combed the Visayan seas but turned up nothing. Customs and NFA officials, too, cannot say if the smuggled rice had found its way into local markets. Strangest of all is the actuation of a finance undersecretary. In clear disregard of specific orders of Villanueva, Camacho and President Arroyo, this official has cautioned the NBI investigating team leader and the state prosecutor to go slow in filing criminal charges against Sacramento and Maravillas. On several occasions, he told them that they should limit their investigation to the guards, specifically Villarin, and to ignore the earlier questionable actions of the higher-ups. What the undersecretary doesn't know is that the state prosecutor has sent a memo to the Office of the President calling for the indictment of the two erstwhile Cebu officers. "Government must show its political will in punishing officials who are abetting smuggling and corruption at the Bureau of Customs," the prosecutor wrote. "This can be demonstrated by charging the two officials, and not merely their subalterns, in view of their clear and explicit role in the disappearance of the ship. The breaches in the performance of their duties were palpable and flagrant. To do otherwise would invite public condemnation that we are only after the small fry, and that we have conducted only a moro-moro investigation." Note: They should have looked around Siquijor, one would not be surprised if it landed in one of those secret piers somewhere in the island. Whatever happened to the investigation of another rice smuggling case involving the vessel partly owned by the Mayor of Larena?
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