Court of Tax Appeals
0' Republic of:·the ?Hilipph:N:S Court of Ta,X AP.T>Eals Wj,I:~;.-Hia Fe. Mh~ S:{E vs. Ti:"Oteo Y. Aseron
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REPUBLIC OF :·THE ?HILIPPH:n:s
COURT Of TA,X AP.t>EALS
Wj,i:~;.-HIA
FE. MH~ S :{E,
Petitioner,
-versus -
TI:"OTEO Y. ASERON , in his
capacity as the Acting Com-
missioner of Customs,
Respondent .
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C. f.A.
CASE NO. 866
This is an appeal from the decision of the
Acting Commissioner of Customs dated June 23, 1960,
affirming an order of the Collector of Customs of
hlani la decreeing the forfeiture of the various
merchandise im~orted by the petitioner from Hong-
kong on October 28 , 1954, and November .2, 1954 , for
alleged violation of Central Bank Circulars Nos .
44 and 45 in relation to Section 1363 (f) of the
Revised Administrative Code.
This case has been submitted for decision on
the following stipulation of facts, to wit :
11 1. That the peti t.ioner is a natural
person, of legal age , and a resident of the
City of
lc~anila , while the respondent vvas
the Acting Commissioner of Customs , with
offic es located at the Bureau of Customs ,
Manila;
"2. That on October 28 , 1954, petitioner
imoorted from Hongkong into the Philippines
two (2) shipments of various merchandise un-
der ~egistry No . 1371 which were declared
under Entry Nos . 85328 and 85327 , respect -
ive~y , both s:ries .of 1954 and covered by
t~e1r.res~ect1ve~B1lls of Lading and Commer-
Clal 1nvo1ces .
Customs duties and sales "taxes
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GECISI0: 1 -
C. I .A. CASE
NO. 866
- 2 -
due ther eon ~ere paid before these
shipMents were released under bond ;
11 3 . That on r·:ovenber 2 , 1034 , peti -
t ioner likewis e import ed fro ~ Hongkong
into the r'hilipt-;ines one sr1ipmcnt of
various ;r2rcharC.ise under ll.e~istry lb . 13°5
whic;, was declared under Entry no .
3 7016 ~
Series of 1954 , duly covered by Bill
of Ladi:;; arld commercia 1 invoice .
Customs
dut i es an~ Ga l es taxes due thereon were
paid before thi s shipreent was releas ed
under bond ;
114 . That these importations were not
covered by import licenses , consular invoices ,
and
elease Certificates from the Central
Bank and were conseq uen t~y seized by the Col-
lector of Customs of the iJort of Manila , un-
der Seizure I dent ification No s . 2112 , 2121
and 2134 , respectively, for alleged violation
of Cent ral Bank Circulars Nos . 44 and 45 i n
· relation to Section 1363(f) of the
evised
d~inistrative Code ;
"5. That during tl1e pendency of the
above- mentioned seizure proceedings the im-
portations i n question were ,
ho~e v er , r e-
leased and delivered to the petitioner under
surety bonds Nos . 151 , 154 and 153 , all se-
r:es of 1954 , in the res ective sums of
'¥2 , 890 . 69, 1-2, 411.00 and F-4 , 069. 00 or a
total of ~9 , 370 . 69 posted by the Pioneer
Insur ance and Surety Corporation ;
"6 . That on June 23 , 1960, respondent
rendered judgment in the above -mentioned
Seizure Identification Nos . 2112 , 2121 and
2134 , the dispositive portion of which
reads as follows :
' 'JJJ-'n
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b
,,
• '
f
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1
y a u·cnorl -cy o
Section 1330 of ti.e
evised Adminis -
trative Code in relation to Section
37Cf2. of the Tariff and Cl1stoms Code
of the 2hilippines , t he
ioneer In-
surance & Surety Corporation Bond
Nos . 151, 154 andl l 58 , all series
of 1954, which have been filed for
the rele~s e of the subj ect merchan-
DECISION -
C.I .A. CASE .'-JO. 866 - 3 - dise respectively covered by ~~nila 3eizure identification Nos . 2112, 2121 and 2134 , are hereby confis - cated ; and the principa l F. Sare Enterprises , as well as the afore- said surety are hereby ordered to pay , j oi t(t1y and severally , in CASH, the respective amounts of T''I'JO THOU-
SAl'W EIGHT HUnDRED NINETY PESuS and
SIXTY NH:E CB!TAVOS (F2, 890. 69) , T .Ju THOUSAl'!D FOUR HUnDRED E LEVGN ~ E S)S (i-2 , 411.00) , and FOU
THUUSAND
SIXTY- NI NE PESOS (P4 , 069 . 00) or a total of NH:E THOUSAi-JD THREE HUIJDRED SEVENTY f'E3US A~iD SIXTY-l':INE CENTA- VOS (?9 , 470. 69) , Philippine Currency to the Bureau of Customs within thirty (30) days from receipt of a copy of this decision in accordanceV with t he terms of the said bonds . t The only issue iaised i s whether or not the forfeiture of the merchandise i n question is legal.
The same issue has been already decided by the Supreme Court in Pascual vs . Commi ssioner of Customs , G. R. No. L- 10979, June 30, 1959 ; Com- missioner 6f Customs vs . Leuterio, G. R. t:o . L- 9142 , October 17, 1959 ; See also Mendoza vs . Aseron , CIA Case No. 852 June 17 , 1963; and Estanislao Leuterio vs . Commissioner of Customs CIA Case No . 977, July 2, 1963 , wherein it was consistently held that importations effected in viol ation of Central Bank Circulars Nos . 44 and 45 i n relation to Section 1363
(f) of the Revised Administrative Code (now Section . 2530LI1 of the Tariffs and Customs Code) , are sub- ject to forfeiture.
DECISION -
C.T.A. CASE NO. 866 - lf. - In the cases of Andres E. Lazaro vs. Com- missioner of Customs, CTA Cases Nos. 833 and 83lf. dated June 14, 1963, this Court held: npetitioner questions the validity of the seizure and forfeiture proceed- ings on the premise that Central Bank Circulars Nos. 44 and 4~ have been re- pealed by Central Bank Circular No. 133. uThere is no inconsistency between Circulars Nos. 44 and 133 in so far as the presentation of a release certifi- cate of the Central Bank is concerned. Section 14 of Central Bank Circular No. 44 provides as follows:
1llf-. No item of import sq.al l be released by the Bureau of ~us toms without the presentation of a release certificate issued by the Ce,ntral Bank in a form prescribed by the Monetary Board.' nThis Se~tion has a counterpart in Central Bank Circular No. 133, paragraph 6 of which reads:
'6. Imports shall be released from the port of entry only upon presentation of a release certifi- cate issued by the Central Bank based on letter of credit opened. (See 58 O.G. No. 5 p. 882.) 1 Moreover, Circular No. 133 further provides:
18. All existing circulars, rules regulations, and conditions governing transactions in foreign exchange not in- consistent with the provision of this 6ircular, are deemed incorporated here- to and made integral parts hereof by reference. (Paragr~ph 8.)' "Obviously, Central Bank Circular No. 133, far from ,repealing the provision of Central Bank Circular No. 44 relative to the requirement of a release certificate, has adopted the same requirement.
DECISION -
C. I .A. CASE NO. 866 5 - "Since Central Bank Circular l':o . 44 has not been repealed by Central oank Cir- cular No . 133 with respect t o the requirement of a release certificate of the Central Jank , it follmv's that tl1e se:i.zure and for - feitu~re of the ."'ierchandise in ()Uest:i.on pursuant to the forner c~rcular ,~ in Iela - tion to Section 1363(£) of tne Revised Administrative Code , are in order. 11 l"oreover , even granting a:cauermdo that Central J ank :ircular No . 44 has been repealed by Circular No . 133, the validity of the forfeiture · under ·tJ-te oJ.d circular is not affected by its r~peal , the merchandise in question having been · imported illegally whilo i t was still in force .
The expir ation of Central Bank Circular r\:o . 44 did not nave the effe-ct of legalizing an importation of goods which vvas illegal at the time of impor- tation (Golay Buchel and Cie 9 vs . Com- missioner of Cus torLs , G. R. :.;o . L-10994 , 11012 , December 29 , 1959 ; Leonora Roxas vs . Sayoc , G. R. IJo . L- 6502 , Iioven:ber 29 , 1Q56 )."
dHEaEFORE , finding no error in the decision appealed from , the same is hereby affirmed , witn costs against the petitioner. l~nila , October 7, 1963 .
I CVTCLJR :
Associate
, r,;;tUAlJO NAlliE Presidi ng Judg e