According to the Philippines’ President Office, the vehicles, which were ruined on July 30 at Irene port of Santa Ana city, the northern province of Cagayan, included 68 cars with famous brands such as Lamborghinis, Mustangs, Porsches, and eight motorcycles.
They were part of 800 vehicles illegally imported and seized by the country’s customs.
Speaking before the event, President Duterte admitted that he cannot uproot corruption and smuggling within his office term, but the destruction of the vehicles is important in his plan to erase corruption that he vowed during his election campaign in 2016.
In February this year, President Duterte also ordered the destruction of 30 sport cars and some other high-end cars, including Jaguars, BMV, Corvette Stingray, with total value of 850,000 EUR (about 990,000 USD) in Manila.
This was a new feature of the President’s fight against corruption and smuggling compared to that of the previous presidents when smuggled vehicles will be detained and put into auction under the supervision of governmental agencies.
According to President Duterte, the destruction of the vehicles will prevent criminal gangs to use fake names to own those vehicles.
Last year, the Philippine customs agency seized numerous illegal imported vehicles worth over 2 million USD.-VNA
