Hundreds of drums of smuggled oil seized off Palawan

The Philippine National Police (PNP) Maritime Group has seized hundreds of drums of petroleum products—reported to have been smuggled into the country from Kudat, Malaysia—from a motor banca off the coast of Palawan.

The shipments were seized during an operation of the Anti-Smuggling Unit of the PNP Maritime Group when it inspected a motor banca estimated to be 300 meters off the Ursula Island in Barangay Rio Tuba in Bataraza, Palawan.

Authorities apprehended the captain and 10 crew members of the vessels, who were reported to have been from Balabac. They will be facing charges for the illegal sale of petroleum products, and violation of the Tax Reform Act of 1997. GMA News is still trying to get their statement on the matter.

The petroleum products, which includes diesel, were reported to have been smuggled in efforts to bring them to gasoline stations in the Palawan province.

“Based po sa aming investigation, ito po ay nanggaling ng Mangsee Island, Balabac, Palawan, but ito pong fuel ay kinukuha po nila from Kudat, Malaysia,” PNP Maritime Group 2nd Operations Unit public information officer Police Captain Anna Viola Abenojar said.

“Ibebenta po ito sa southern part ng Palawan—sa Bataraza, Brooke’s Point, Quezon, Palawan. Diyan po yan dini-distribute,” she said in a report by Emil Sumangil on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(Based on our investigation, these came from the Mangsee Island, Balabac, Palawan, but the fuel came from Kudat, Malaysia…. These are sold in the southern part of Palawan—Bataraza, Brooke’s Point, Quezon, Palawan. That is where they are distributed. )

Authorities have also warned distributors and even consumers of smuggled oil that they may also face charges should they be caught.

“Wala pong kaukulang permit unang una, at walang tax itong mga produkto na ito, so ibig sabihin po ay bawal na bawal po itong bilhin,” Abenojar said.

(They do not have the proper permit and these products do not have tax, so this means that these products are not allowed for sale.) — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News