MANILA: Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Remulla on Wednesday said the government is going after a criminal syndicate based in Batangas province which has cornered the black market for pilfered petroleum products causing billions of pesos in revenue loss for the government.
‘Kailangan pag-aralan natin iyan kasi ang bansa natin ay talagang nahihirapan sa ginagawa nilang ‘paihi’ dito sa Pilipinas, itong oil pilferage syndicate at tsaka itong smuggling syndicates (We need to study this because our country is having a hard time because of the ‘paihi,’ the oil pilferage and smuggling syndicates),’ Remulla said during the Kapihan sa DOJ forum.
‘Paihi’ is the slang for stealing fuel while in transit to be illegally resold. It was originally applied to the practice of transferring the contents of fuel trucks at the side of the road by unscrupulous oil company workers.
Remulla said the current ‘paihi’ schemes employed by the syndicate involve the transfer of oil between ships at sea, escaping scrutiny by
customs inspectors; and one that involves bulk suppliers of oil.
In these schemes, he said the syndicate siphons off a certain percentage of the oil, and then passes it to the public to recover their systems loss.
‘Sa aking tingin pwede umabot ito ng daang bilyong piso na nawawala sa atin dahil sa mga sindikatong nananaig sa paiihi ng fuel (I think government revenue losses reaches around a hundred billion pesos due to these syndicates involved in fuel pilferage).’ Remulla said, citing a meeting with Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr.
He said the Bataan Oil Spill Inter-Agency Investigation is looking into the possibility that the three vessels behind the oil spill last month in Bataan may be involved in the scheme.
Remulla said he has asked the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to help address the ‘paihi’ problem ‘once and for all.’
‘Delikado kasi itong Batangas syndicate. Marami na ho namatay dito. May pinapapatay sila ‘pag sila ay nilalabanan (The Batangas
syndicate is dangerous. Many have died. They kill those who oppose them),’ he said.
Source: Philippines News Agency