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TALKS on alvarez firing ‘speculatiON’ – Clark Pampanga Philippines

BY CRIS G. ODRONIA AND WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL

MALACAÑANG on Sunday said that reports that Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez might be removed from his position were speculations.
Deputy spokesman Abigail Valte said that there was no advise from President Benigno Aquino 3rd that Alvarez would be replaced as chief of the Bureau of Customs.
“As far as we are concerned, it is mere speculation. It will only become official if the President confirmed it himself. At this point, it is purely speculation,” Valte told government-run radio station, dzRB.
Reports said that Alvarez may be removed from his office because of the controversy involving smuggled vehicles, and may be replaced by former Representatives Liwayway Vinzons Chato of Camarines Norte or Manuel Mamba of Cagayan. Chato was the chief of the Bureau of Internal Revenue during the administration of President Fidel Ramos.
Alvarez is currently under fire in connection with the undetected smuggling into the country of 25 luxury vehicles and motorcycles, that includes an $80,000 or P3.4 million customized Harley Davidson stolen from Hollywood screenwriter Skip Woods in Texas, that was later recovered by agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Bureau of Investigation in the residence of one Lynard Allan Bigcas in Cagayan de Oro City.
Investigation revealed that the Customs bureau had no knowledge about the smuggled vehicles and motorcycles nor it had records about the entry of hot motor vehicles into the country.
Smuggled onions
On top of that, some 260,000 kilograms of smuggled onions, which could fill-up at least ten 40-foot container vans, had slipped past the Bureau of Customs only to be recovered over the weekend by elements of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) following a tip from an organization of local onion growers.
The contraband onions, valued at P16 million, were ordered seized by Alvarez even as he admitted that without the tip provided by Rodolfo Niones, former president of the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magsisibuyas ng Neuva Ecija, the Customs bureau could not have discovered it.
Alvarez has ordered the agency’s Run After the Smugglers group to conduct a thorough investigation on the case to unmask the people behind the smuggling attempt that put the Customs bureau to shame, including customs employees in cahoots with smugglers.
The Customs chief said that he wanted to know how the 26,000 bags of onions were able to enter and slip out of the customs zone undetected and ended up at a warehouse in Bulacan.
In the case of the onions, the head of the raiding team, intelligence officer Bienvenido Rubio, said that the contraband goods came from China and India as shown by the labels printed on the packing materials.
The onions were recovered at the cold storage warehouse of Tianlong Trading in Sterling Compound in Barangay Iba, Meycauyan City.
The CIIS chief, Director Filomeno Vicencio Jr. said that they were still investigating the identity of the consignee or consignees even as they had identified the owner of the warehouse where the onions were found.
The trading firm, he added, failed to present evidence of payment of duties and taxes, copies of phyto-sanitary inspection certificate from the onions’ countries of origin and plant quarantine clearances from the Bureau of Plant Industry.

Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/news/topstories/talks-on-alvarez-firing-%E2%80%98speculation%E2%80%99/

With new golf courses springing up in and around Clark Philippines and an ever-increasing patronage by tourists from neighboring South Korea, Clark Freeport is short on hotel accommodation.

Even with the addition of 27 holes in 2009 and 2010, there is an acute shortage golf tee times for at least 5-6 months each year. Local players compete with frustrated (golf) tourists from Korea and China for tee times. Unfortunately Clark Philippines doesn’t have the luxury of vast tracts of land suitable for this type of development.

Mimosa offers 36 holes of championship golf, visitors can pay and play, busy during the weekends but not that difficult to get on or join up with a group to form a 4-ball. The new FAKCC offers 27 holes of world-class golf.

This web site contains articles and information that will be helpful to visitors, residents and tourists traveling out of town from Manila on a short getaway to Subic, Angeles City, Pampanga and Clark Philippines. There are several web sites that contain information that might also be pertinent to what is happening in North Luzon.

For assistance with organizing and planning weddings and garden receptions, log on to http://www.PhilippinesWeddingVenue.com

For assistance with lodgings, accommodations, hotels and resorts near Manila in Subic, Pampanga, Angels City and Clark Philippines log on to http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com

While in Clark, one might as well add to the itinerary a visit to the famous Clark Wine Center, the largest wine shop in Philippines which offers over 2000 selections of fine vintage wine from all wine regions, vintages spanning over 50 years covering all price ranges.

http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

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