CATCH. Customs officials in Northern Mindanao open five containers with two Mercedes Benzes and Porsche cars, used clothing and meat at the Mindanao International Container Terminal in Villanueva town, Misamis Oriental on Wednesday (27 July 2016). The renewed campaign against smuggling came after new Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon threatened to shoot corrupt BOC employees. (PHOTO BY FROILAN GALLARDO OF MINDANEWS)
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By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent .

AUTHORITIES on Thursday held another shipment of some 1,400 tons of wastes from South Korea intended for VNS Verde Soko Philippines Industrial Corp. in Tagoloan town, Misamis Oriental.

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John Simon, customs collector at the Mindanao International Container Terminal, said the shipment contained what clearly appeared to authorities to be garbage.

The wastes, according to Simon, emitted foul odor and some were even soaked with liquid.

The second shipment brought to 6,500 tons the garbage from South Korea that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) held in Tagoloan town. Officials earlier questioned the July shipment of some 5,100 tons of wastes that found their way to the recycling plant of Verde Soco within the Phividec Industrial Estate in Sitio Buguac, Barangay Sta. Cruz in Tagoloan town.

The firm has maintained that the shipment did not include hazardous garbage but only shredded plastic materials intended for recycling.

The more that cannot be said of the second shipment, according to Simon. “Baho ug na-ay duga sa basura ang maong kargamento,” he said.

Simon said the decision to hold the second shipment came after officials, including Tagoloan Mayor Heckert Emano, inspected it at the MICT the other day.

It was revealed that the first shipment was offloaded at a private wharf in Villanueva town, and not at the MICT in Tagoloan, on July 21,2018. Officials said the wharf belongs to the Philippine Sinter Corp..

From the Villanueva wharf, the wastes were then “transferred” to Verde Soko’s plant in Sta. Cruz in neighboring Tagoloan.

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