Gov`t loses P90B to illicit cars

Smuggling of cars has cost the government P90 billion in lost revenues from 2005 to 2009. On average some P18 billion has been lost yearly. A study done by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies said that if smuggling is not eliminated and resolved quickly this will destroy an industry that is a large potential source of employment. The state-run PIDS added that car smuggling will erode government revenues. The P90 billion lost to smuggling could have built 64, 000 two-room school buildings. In a policy note titled “Can the Philippine Auto Industry Survive Smuggling?” PIDS Senior Research Fellow Rafaelita Aldaba said that since the early 2000s, auto smuggling has been prevalent in the country. Aldaba said the auto industry has been facing stiff competition from imported second-hand vehicles priced 30 to 50 percent lower than their new counterparts.