Demolition Duterte Derby! President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte destroys luxury cars in his war on crime
The President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has personally overseen the destruction of about 30 luxury vehicles that were believed to have been illegally imported into the country.
Road rollers crushed P61.6 million worth of cars. Duterte said:
“You want imported cars? Pay import duties first,”
The Commissioner of the BoC (Bureau of Customs) Isidro Lapeña has said that his agency would destroy smuggled luxury cars instead of putting them up for auction.
Twenty vehicles worth roughly $1.2 million were destroyed by a bulldozer at the Bureau of Customs grounds in the capital of Manila.
Another 10 additional luxury cars were destroyed at the ports of Davao and Cebu, according to media sources in the Philippines.
The vehicles were destroyed by being bulldozed in compliance with a directive issued by President Duterte.
The destruction occurred on the Bureau of Customs’ 116th year anniversary of its founding.
The purpose of the dramatic destruction by the Philippine Bureau of Customs was to send a clear message to wealthy car enthusiasts and in particular, drug dealers and other criminals, that smuggling cars into the country would not pay any dividends.
The Bureau of Customs has maintained that luxury vehicles like the ones destroyed are used in the pursuit of crime. Among the vehicles bulldozed were used Lexuses, BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, Audis, Jaguars and even a Corvette Stingray. President Duterte said:
"This kind of racket has been going on again and again and again over a period of centuries,”
"Well, it has to stop.”
The new practice of destroying illegally obtained vehicles marks a clear departure from the usual procedure of auctioning smuggled vehicles in order to generate additional revenue for the government.
Duterte said that disposing of the confiscated cars at an auction would only give the smugglers an opportunity to secure them legally.
The BOC recently seized P24.3 million (€383,622) worth of used luxury cars and overweight steel products from Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China at the Manila International Container Port. Two Lamborghinis and a Ferrari were among the luxury cars confiscated in the November 2017 seizure.
Duterte continues to send his message to the criminal world that he will not give any quarter. His policies and his time as mayor of Davao were his hallmark tough-on-crime attitude, showing no mercy for local criminals.
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