CTA Case No. 752 (Decision)

1"1J11'Llt; OJ< . 'l"fil'!. t'tHLi',.VI '" ,,,. " T () 'AX APPE.A.U. ~ F. SARE ENTERPRISES, C.T.A. CASE NO. 7$2 Petitionel', - versus �- � COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS, Respondent. X- - - - - - - - � - - - X . DECISION This is an appeal from the decision 0� the respondent atfirming an order of the Collector of Customs of ~anila decrieinl the forfeiture of certain shipments of merchandise imported by the petitioner sometime in 19~. The facts of the case, as stipula- ted by the parties, are as follows: 2o That the petitioner in the month of December, 19~, imported into the Phil- ippines, the following to wit: (a) 73 packages of various mer- chandise declared under Entry No. 97263, covered by a Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice and 0/R Nos. 65893 and 6617~, under which pay- ments of customs duties and Inter- nal Revenue taxes were made as con- signed to the petitioner; (b) 122 packages of various mer- chandise declared under Entry No. 98788, covered by a Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice and 0/R Nos. . 66816 and 66970 under which pay- ments of customs duties and Inter- nal Revenue taxes were made as eon- signed to the petitioner; (e) 10 packages of smoke ham in bulk packages declared under Entry Noo 98787 covered by a Bill of Lading, Commercial Invoice and 0/R Nos. 66817 and 67137 under which payments of ctts- toms duties and Internal Revenue taxes were made as consigned to the petitioner.

i' DECISION � C.T.A. CASE NO. 772 3e That the 'above-mentioned ship- ments were the subject of Seizure Iden- tification Nos. 2230 and 2278, for seizure and forfeiture instituted by the respondent and/or his duly authorized representative for the failure of the petitioner to pro- duce the Central Bank Release Certificate covering the subject shipments as required by Central Bank Circular Nos. ~ and ~7, in relation to Section 1363-t of the Re- vised Administrative Code; ~. That the above-mentioned ship- ments were, however, released and deli- vered to tne petitioner under Surety Bonds PISCI Nos. 207, 199, and 207, in the respective amounts of Pll,?60.oo, P11,~7SoOO and P.l0,3~.oo of the Pioneer Insurance &Surety Corporation, posted by the petitioner and the said surety corporation; 7. That on December 14, 1in979t~e the above- respondent rendered judgment mentioned Seizure Identificat.ion Nos � 2230, 2252 and 2258 ordering the petitioner as ~ell as the surety, Pioneer Insurance & urety Corporation to jointly and several- ly pay in cash to the Bureau ot Customs within thirty (30) days from notice of jud,ment the full amounts of the bonds posted therein, namely and respectively, P11,76o.oo, P11,475~oo and f10,3~.oo; 6. That on January 21, 1962 t the Mon- etary Board of the Central Bank duly con- vened and under authority of law issued Circular No. 133. The sole issue presented relates to the legal- ity of the forfeiture of the merchandise in question. It is alleged on behalf of peti'tioner that although the forfeiture mi~ht have been valid under Circulars Nos. 44 and 45 of the Central Bank, the subsequent issuance by said Bank of' Circular No. 133, which al- legedl�./repealed said Circulars Nos. ~ and 47, has the effect of nullifying the forfeiture proceedings. In Andres E. Lazaro v. Commissioner of Customs,

DECISION .. C.T.A. CASE NO. 752 - 3- C.T.A. Nos . 833-834-, J\Ule llt, 1963, it was held: Moreover~ even granting ar~e~Q that Central Dank Circular Noo � as been repealed� by Circular No . l33, the validity of the forfeiture under the old circular is not affected b.Y its re- peal, the merchandise in que~tion having been imported illegally wbile it was still in force . The ex~fration of Cen- tral Bank Circular No. "t"t did not have the effect of legalizing an imporation of goods which was illegal at the time of importation (Golav. Bucbel and Cie . vs . Commissioner of ~ustoms, G. R. No. L-10994-, 11012 , December 29, 19&9; leonora Roxas vs . Sa.yoc , G. R. o. L-6502, November 29, 1956) . WHEREFORE, the decision appealed from is af- firmed in ~t with costs against petitioner. SO CRDERED. Manila, July 3, 1963 . ROMAN M. UMALI Associate Judge I CONCUR: