BACOLOD CITY鈥擜 top official of a ship manning company based here on Sunday (July 14) called for an investigation of reports that linked it to the illegal release of 641 shipping containers loaded with smuggled goods at the Port of Manila and the filing of charges against those behind the reports.
鈥淲e are shocked and surprised听 by the accusation that our firm was involved in the illegal shipment of听 containers that according to the Bureau of Customs were brought to this country,鈥� Orophil Shipping International Co. Inc. chair John Orola said.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) alleged that some Customs personnel were in connivance with Orophil employees.
鈥淲e investigated this and not a single name they mentioned are known to us, nor are employees of our company,鈥� said Orola.
听鈥淚t鈥檚 all fabrication,鈥� he added. 鈥滻 would like to get to the bottom of this and find out who is the real perpetrator of this package of lies, because we will file charges against those responsible for this,鈥� he said.
听He said he was informed that other shipping companies had fallen victims of this type of modus operandi at the BOC.
听鈥淲e would like to request the help of the President to continue purging and clearing the Bureau of Customs of this kind of employees,鈥� Orola said.
听Tom Orola, Orophil president and CEO,听 said 鈥渢here seems to听 have听 been a colorful maneuver听 /to hide the truth听 in the missing 641 containers.鈥�
听Tom, who is a member of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) Board of Trustees,听 had also sought the help of his colleagues for an investigation.
听John Orola said Orophil has been in operation for almost 40 years听 and never was engaged in importation.
听鈥淲e are an ISO accredited company and this affects our integrity here and abroad. We want this matter cleared as soon as possible because the credibility of our company is at stake,鈥� he听 said.
听鈥淥ur company is a manning and crewing听 company that has been providing employment to seafarers鈥he allegations that we brought in more than 600 containers is definitely听 false, untrue and baseless,鈥� he added.
听He said the allegation that the company has an import permit is definitely untrue and fabricated.
听鈥淥rophil Shipping does not have any importation permit,鈥� he said.
He was reacting to media reports听 that the BOC on Friday听 filed at the Department of Justice smuggling charges against three of its employees and nine importers for smuggling.
The report said Orophil was the consignee of 642 containers with smuggled goods which were released between March 28 to Aug. 6, 2018 to a company called MMD Logistics Inc.
听John Orola said Orophil has no transaction with MMD Logistics, which is based in Manila. and said to be the distributor of the contents of the containers that went missing. Orophil told BOC that it had no dealing with MMD Logistics but a press release from the bureau continued to link Orophil to the case, according to Orola.
Tom Orola, in a letter to听 to VACC听 president Arsenio Boy Evangelista, said he did not even dream about his company being linked to such reports that would damage its reputation.
听鈥淥ur company is just a mere manning and crewing firm听 and never an importing container business,鈥� he said in his letter to Evangelista.
听鈥淭he BOC implicated us and maligned our names听 when they have no factual basis,鈥� he said.
听Tom said with the help of the VACC, he would counter the charges against him and his family./TSB