This case has been cited 2 times or more.
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2015-07-08 |
BERSAMIN, J. |
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| The petitioner's assertion that he had relied in good faith on the declarations made by his broker, who had based them on the information provided in the shipping documents by the foreign exporter, stood unrebutted by the Prosecution. If that was so, his intentional or deliberate participation in any misdeclaration or underdeclaration could not be properly presumed. In so saying, we cannot but conclude that the trial court wrongly found him criminally liable, for, as aptly observed in Transglobe International, Inc. v. Court of Appeals:[45] | |||||
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2006-10-27 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| The rule that Regional Trial Courts have no review powers over such proceedings is anchored upon the policy of placing no unnecessary hindrance on the government's drive, not only to prevent smuggling and other frauds upon Customs, but more importantly, to render effective and efficient the collection of import and export duties due the State, which enables the government to carry out the functions it has been instituted to perform.[35] Thus, the RTC had no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the petition for replevin by respondents herein, issue the writ of replevin and order its enforcement. The Collector of Customs had already seized the vehicles and set the sale thereof at public auction. The RTC should have dismissed the petition for replevin at the outset. By granting the plea of respondents (plaintiffs below) for the seizure of the vehicles and the transfer of custody to the court, the RTC acted without jurisdiction over the action and the vehicles subject matter thereof. It bears stressing that the forfeiture of seized goods in the Bureau of Customs is a proceeding against the goods and not against the owner. It is in the nature of a proceeding in rem, i.e., directed against the res or imported articles and entails a determination of the legality of their importation. In this proceeding, it is, in legal contemplation, the property itself which commits the violation and is treated as the offender, without reference whatsoever to the character or conduct of the owner.[36] | |||||