Customs donates seized laptops to DepEd

MANILA, Philippines – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has turned over 3,915 laptops to the Department of Education (DepEd) for distribution to public elementary and high schools.

The entry-level ASUS laptops were seized in December 2011 from consignee ORZA Marketing for undervaluation and misdeclaration. While the donation was approved in 2012, it took time to waive the storage, demurrage, and other port charges, the BOC cited Friday, July 4.

“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 non-monetary benefits – for our government and our people,” the BOC said in statement.

Section 2503 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines mandates outright seizure and forfeiture in favor of the government if the discrepancy between what the importer declared and the assessment of customs examiners has a difference of over 30% in terms of value, volume or weight.

As the specifications and features of the personal laptops are not suitable for business use, the BOC decided to donate the seized goods to DepEd’s Computer Training and Educators and Resource for Students (CompuTERS) Program.

DepEd’s CompuTERS program aims to bring access to computer technology to more than 20 million learners and more than 600,000 teachers across 46,603 elementary and secondary schools in the country.

Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI), operator of the Port of Manila, and the concerned shipping lines waived their charges to expedite the donation and transfer of the laptops to DepEd. – Rappler.com