Manila court orders PASG: Stop operations for 20 days

By Benjamin B. Pulta

11/20/2009

The Manila City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has ordered the Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) to stop operations for 20 days while it hears questions of its legality.

In a three-page order, Manila RTC Branch 26 Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) requiring Malacañang to stop the implementation of Executive Order 624 or the law creating PASG.

The Manila court has set a Dec. 3 hearing to determine whether to lift the TRO or grant the preliminary injunction.

The court also ordered British national Alpha Kwok to post a bond of P2 million.

Kwok, a suspected jewelry smuggler, filed a motion for declaratory relief before the Manila RTC asking for the abolition of the PASG which, he claimed, was created in 2007 by a “grossly unconstitutional, illegal and unlawful” executive order by President Arroyo.

Kwok, who is charged with allegedly smuggling P250 million worth of jewelry and loose precious stones into the country, said Malacañang created a unit that merely duplicates the functions of the Bureau of Customs.

They asked the Manila court to issue a TRO which will prohibit Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita from implementing Mrs. Arroyo’s Executive Order 624. Ultimately, his petition seeks the issuance of a preliminary and a permanent injunction order to declare PASG’s creation as invalid and unconstitutional.

They said EO 624 which was signed and issued to create an anti-smuggling group that will “apprehend, seize, investigate and prosecute acts involving smuggling, unlawful importation and other similar violations” but has since “become a source of excessive abuses and official lawlessness.”

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