MANILA: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte watched bulldozers flatten dozens of sports cars and other luxury vehicles Tuesday as part of a drive to fight corruption at the country’s customs bureau.
A Jaguar, a Lexus, a Corvette Stingray, and dozens of top-end German sedans and Japanese SUVs were crushed at a customs yard in the capital Manila. The vehicles were seized after they were smuggled in, authorities said.
A total of 30 vehicles worth a combined 61.6 million pesos (SR4.47 million) were scrapped in Manila and two other cities on Duterte’s orders.
The president has made fighting corruption and illegal drugs the cornerstones of his six-year term.
“Reduce them to scrap metal,” Duterte said in a speech to customs employees after the event.
Normally, seized smuggled vehicles are impounded and then auctioned with the government taking the proceeds.
“I will pay for them, no problem,” Duterte said.
The Bureau of Customs collects duties on imports and is one of the state’s key revenue-generating agencies. It consistently tops independent surveys as one of the country’s most corrupt government agencies.
Customs commissioner Isidro Lapena said in a speech at the ceremony that he has reassigned 691 of his some 7,000 employees since he took office in August last year.
Two other employees were dismissed and 16 others have been suspended over alleged illegal activity, he added.
Philippines crushes sports cars in Duterte graft warning
Philippines crushes sports cars in Duterte graft warning
ICC rejects Israeli bid to halt Gaza war investigation
- The ruling means the investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant remain in place
THE HAGUE: Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Monday rejected one in a series of legal challenges brought by Israel against the court’s probe into its conduct of the Gaza war.
On appeal, judges refused to overturn a lower court decision that the prosecution’s investigation into alleged crimes under its jurisdiction could include events following the deadly attack on Israel by militant Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023.
The ruling means the investigation continues and the arrest warrants issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant remain in place.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the ruling an example of the ICC’s disregard for the sovereign rights of countries who are not members of the court, in a post on social media platform X.
Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas following the October 7 attacks.
The ICC had initially also issued a warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, but withdrew that later following credible reports of his death.
A ceasefire agreement in the conflict took effect on October 10, but the war destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and living conditions are dire.
According to Gaza health officials, whose data is frequently cited with confidence by the United Nations, some 67,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza.
This ruling focuses on only one of several Israeli legal challenges against the ICC investigations and the arrest warrants for its officials. There is no timeline for the court to rule on the various other challenges to its jurisdiction in this case.
