The Philippine National Police- Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) recently filed criminal raps against the owners of the Chevrolet Suburban van that was used in ferrying Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona to the Senate impeachment court on two occasions for their alleged failure to have it registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and illegal use of the license plates attached to it.
Those charged were identified by the PNP-HPG as Reynaldo Pazcoguin, Ofelia Pazcoguin, Rodelito Biag, Leonides Pazcoguin, Nenita Biag, Mark Lopez and Lucito Santos as incorporators of Viking Haulers Inc. which is the registered owner of the black bullet-proof SUV.
HPG director C/Supt. Leonardo Espina said the accused are currently facing charges before the Pasig City prosecutor’s office for alleged violation of Republic Act 6539 in not properly registering their vehicle with the LTO and Batas Pambansa 43 for unlawful use of the plate number “ZEE-868.”
The modus operandi was uncovered last May 22, 2012 when CJ Corona was caught by several television cameramen while boarding the SUV bearing the illegal license plates that were clearly displayed for the whole world to see. Corona was in the process of leaving the Senate garage after testifying during the impeachment proceedings.
General Espina said the HPG case was an offshoot of a complaint filed in his office by businessman Bonifacio Gomez, owner of the Nutripharm Co. based in Cebu City, who alleged that the license plate number of the Suburban was identical to the one on their 1990 model Mitsubishi L300 service vehicle.
Gomez said he was stunned to see the ZEE-868 license plates of Corona’s Suburban on nationwide television while monitoring developments of the Senate impeachment trial.
Gomez claimed that he had purchased the second-hand Mitsubishi van with plate number ZTE-868 sometime in 2006.
General Espina stressed that a license plate number is unique to a particular vehicle and there are no duplicates. It is also non-transferable as provided for in BP 43. This is why the owners of Viking Haulers have a lot of explaining to do.


For that matter, the Pazcoguins and Viking Haulers are no strangers to controversy. And notoriety.
In August 2010, then Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez lodged a technical smuggling case against them for allegedly short-changing the government of some P68 million in duties and taxes for a fleet of luxury vehicles they had imported from the United States, Italy and Germany that landed at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
Charges of misdeclaration, misclassification and undervaluation of imports were then slapped against Viking president Reynaldo Pazcoguin, vice president Rodelito Biag, corporate secretary Ofelia Pazcoguin and customs broker Benjamin Valic.
Lawyers working under Commissioner Alvarez claimed the amount that Viking et al. should have actually paid the government for bringing into the country from December 2009 to May 2010  three Lamborghini Murcielagos, three Porsches, three Mercedes Benzes and a Masserati Quadroporte were around P85 million.
But they ended up being dunned a measly P17 million due to the intervention of certain corrupt Customs personnel in the motor vehicle division and the X-Ray Inspection Unit who facilitated the release of the shipment from the South Harbor.
Pazcoguin and Biag countered that they should not be faulted for the alleged illegal importation and undervaluation of the imported high end cars in question since accredited Customs brokers were being paid professional fees to handle the entire process in behalf of Viking Haulers.
They also pointed out that whatever duties and taxes paid by the company were based on computations made by officials of the Customs entry processing division, etc.
Department of Justice investigators were unconvinced. In a 31-page resolution, the DoJ ordered the filing of the appropriate criminal raps against Reynaldo Pazcoguin and Rodelito Biag.
“Respondents Pazcoguin and Biag, as president and vice president of Viking, respectively, allegedly consented to the unlawful shipments, authorized the processing and release of the same by not paying the correct duties and taxes,” the resolution read in part.
“Their positions in Viking hold them primarily liable for all corporate acts and business operations. The fact remains that the documents submitted in facilitating the importations of the subject vehicles came from their sources abroad which only they have access and information.”
Viking corporate secretary Ofelia Pazcoguin was however allowed to get off the hook.