Manila: Three of the seven luxury vehicles seized from controversial contractors Pacifico “Curlee” and Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya have been sold during a public auction held by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday.
According to Philippines News Agency, the auction of the three vehicles collected a total of PHP38,211,710 from two bidders, Simplex Industrial Corp. and Lestrell Jewelries. Simplex Industrial purchased the Mercedes-Benz G500 (2019) Brabus at PHP15,500,000 and the Mercedes Benz G63 AMG (2022) at PHP15,611,710. Meanwhile, Lestrell Jewelries acquired the Lincoln Navigator (2022) for a winning bid price of PHP7,100,000.
Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno stated that the Bureau expects to collect a total of more than PHP103 million if all seven vehicles are sold. However, a failed bidding was declared for the remaining four vehicles, as there were no interested bidders for the Toyota Tundra (2022), 2023 Toyota Sequoia, 2023 Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and 2022 Bentley Bentayga, each with their respective initial floor prices.
Lawyer Chris Bendijo, deputy chief of staff of the Office of the Commissioner, mentioned that they will reconvene and recompute the new floor prices for the remaining vehicles. “Those vehicles that were subject of a failed bidding, the committee will reconvene and recompute the floor price,” Bendijo said. He also noted that they might consider maximizing the depreciation factor to 16 percent and may also look into current market prices.
Prior to the auction, Nepomuceno, along with newly appointed Finance chief Frederick Go, Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) chairperson Andres Reyes Jr., and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon, inspected the vehicles at the BOC main office in Port Area, Manila.
Secretary Dizon emphasized the government’s commitment to recovering funds from those involved in infrastructure project anomalies. He assured that this is just the beginning of efforts to return stolen resources to the public treasury and mentioned that arrest warrants will soon be issued against those implicated in these irregularities.
