MANILA — At a time when billions in taxpayer money for flood control projects are under investigation, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) swooped down Tuesday on the Discaya family’s Pasig City properties, seizing the spotlight on their extravagant garage of luxury cars worth hundreds of millions of pesos.
Customs agents, armed with a search warrant and reinforced by the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), raided Discaya-owned establishments along F. Manalo Street. The operation came on the heels of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s order and the ongoing Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearings on alleged anomalies in multibillion-peso flood control contracts.
“The BOC is monitoring and supporting the ongoing investigation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Senator Rodante Marcoleta, into the alleged anomalous flood control projects, which also raised issues regarding the luxury vehicles owned by the Discaya family,” the agency said.
It added: “Any irregularity in the importation of luxury vehicles, such as misdeclaration or non-payment of duties and taxes, will be subject to enforcement actions under the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.”
The family’s opulence took center stage Monday when contractor Sarah Discaya testified that she owns at least 28 luxury vehicles — among them a Rolls-Royce pegged at ₱42 million, a Maybach at ₱22 million, and a Bentley at ₱20 million. Her collection also includes Mercedes-Benz units, Cadillac Escalades, Range Rovers, GMCs, and Chevrolet Suburbans.
Senator Tito Sotto piled on, disclosing that Frabel Enterprises — one of Discaya’s car dealers — had earlier been flagged by Customs for smuggling two Bugatti Chiron supercars into the country.
The BOC said it could not yet disclose details of the raids and its findings but assured the public that its actions would be carried out with “fairness, transparency, and due process.”/PN
