Students to get seized laptops

Bureau of Customs (BOC) building INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has turned over some 4,000 laptop computers to the Department of Education (DepEd) for distribution to public elementary and high schools.

The BOC said a total of 3,915 entry-level Asus laptops, which were seized in December 2011 from consignee ORZA Marketing for undervaluation and misdeclaration, were given to the DepEd.

While the donation was approved in 2012, it took time to waive the storage, demurrage and other port charges, according to the BOC.

“It is our goal to expedite the disposition of forfeited items so that we can help decongest the ports and maximize returns—whether in terms of revenues or other nonmonetary benefits—for our government and our people,” the BOC said in a statement.

Section 2503 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines mandates the outright seizure and forfeiture in favor of the government of goods that show a discrepancy between what an importer declared and what was found by customs examiners of over 30 percent in terms of value, volume or weight.

The specifications and features of the personal laptops are not suitable for business use so the BOC decided to donate the seized goods to support the DepEd’s Computer Training and Educators and Resource for Students program.

The program aims to bring access to computer technology to more than 20 million learners and more than 600,000 teachers in 46,603 elementary and secondary schools nationwide. Tina G. Santos

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