“The very thing that is wrong with our country is the fact that politics lords it over science, industry, the economy, good governance, religion, sports and just about everything else.”
by Ducky Paredes
A romantic with wanderlust in his blood, Steve Tajanlangit builds great resorts. They are classy, friendly, comfortable and always environment friendly. A long-time Tajanlangit dream of a first-class cruise ship running domestic tours of our exotic and romantic more than 7,107 islands, many still in pristine state, seemed about to come true.
He had bought the MV Coco Explorer 2, a Panamanian flag vessel and, after spending several millions on repairs, maintenance of a full crew and recovering from having dealt with the wrong manning agency that burglarized the very vessel they were supposed to be handling that created problems with the Bureau of Customs, finally – a year later – on August 21, 2008.the Commissioner of Customs forwarded his 2nd Indoresement to the Secretary of Finance on his decision withdraw the warrant and release the now renamed vessel “7107 Islands Cruise” to Steve.
Tajanlangit’s 7107 Shipping Corporation had all of the clearances from the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), subject only to the outcome of a counter-suit filed wrongly against Steve’s Boracay Resort by the manning agency that was handling the vessel when it was burglarized. Orophil never reported the break-in (probably and inside job) to Steve.
In purchasing a vessel, the new owner’s documentary requirements start with the Marina, which is the only agency that can convert a foreign flag vessel to a Philippine Flag ship. It is only when this has happened that taxes on the vessel are due the government. So far, the Marina approvals were all still provisional – Certificate of Vessel Registry, Certificate of Ownership, Minimum Ship Manning Certificate and Passenger Ship Safety Certificate, among others – pending the settlement of the Orophil countersuit.
That condition – the settlement with Orophil – is a give-away that the problems that Steve has been having with government agencies is the work of the former congressman who offered his Orophil’s manning services to Steve with the idea of taking advantage of a landlubber owning his first vessel.
The contract for manning was for $700 monthly agency fee plus actual cost. But, cash advances, many never liquidated, were more the rule.
The cash advances from Steve to Orophil were as follows:
October 22, 2007 – An advance of P500,000.
November 9, 2007 US$ 26,100 for 30,000 liters of Diesel Fuel. (This is significant because just seven days later, 40,000 liters of fuel was drained from the vessel’s Diesel Fuel Tanks, among other materials unloaded from the vessel and never reported to the owner by the manning agency.
November 14, 2007 – P1 million advance through a Veterans Bank check.
November 17, 2007 – A letter from Orophil requesting for P5,097,799.00 for the November operations including the cost of Marina documentation and licensing of the vessel.
November 17, 2008 – Another P1.5 million cash advance.
November 28, 2007 – Another P2,0 million cash advance.
December 7, 2007 – Cash advance of PP1.0 million.
December 27, 2007 – Cash advance given in cash to Capt. Viaje of Orophil.
On January 8, 2008, the NBI finished its report on the November 16 pilferage of the vessel. The NBI report implicated top Orophil officials in the pilferage. A Mariveles barangay official spoke to the NBI and promised to testify in court that his boat was hired to offload the fuel from Steve’s vessel. Other witnesses have also surfaced saying the same thing.
Still, even as Steve has asked the NBI to look deeper into the burglary before filing charges for qualified theft against these Orophil officials, Steve’s Executive Assistant, Augustus B. Zamora, has filed charges of Estafa against former (one-time) Bacolod congressman Juan Orola, Jr. and other Orophil officials and directors after Orophil failed to account for some P2 million of the P6.2 million that Steve advance to Orophil.
Orophil filed a counter-suit, which was dismissed by the Makati Prosecutors Office which decision was immediately dismissed by another former congressman, then Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales. The counter-suit by Orophil was a weird one. It asked the ship owner – Steve Tajanlangit – for P4 million for services rendered and advances. Everyone in the shipping industry knows that manning agencies never advance funds to owners; it is always the other way around.
Even with all of its approvals and permits, the 7107 Islands Cruise, among the best ideas ever to come to Philippine Tourism is still unable to operate and is in danger of being auctioned off by the Department of Finance on the mistaken notion, as stated by Finance Undersecretary Estela Sales: “For almost two years now the vessel … [has been] operating as a cruise ship around Boracay, Coron, and Subic without a single centavo paid for customs duties.”
This is not entirely true. On February 4, 2009, the Bureau of Customs, Subic Bay Freeport Zone issued BOC Import Entry & Internal Revenue Declaration No. 7 and Entry No. TNW 09-09 for the importation of Steve’s vessel with taxes and duties amounting to P11,659,922.
Also, whatever trips were made by 7107 Islands Cruise, these were done with customs guards on board when the vessel was under the control of the Bureau of Customs.
But, in the end, what is more important for this country – to have that tourist ship, the only one that would cruise Philippine waters exclusively, doing its thing; or for the DoF to kill off among the best ideas ever for tourism promotion just to please a former Bacolod congressman who was unable to pull a fast one on Steve Tajanlangit?
The very thing that is wrong with our country is the fact that politics lords it over science, industry, the economy, good governance, religion, sports and just about everything else. Giving in to politics over our efforts to improve tourism, which could actually become a great income-earner for the Philippines, is simply the wrong way to go.
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hvp 06.26.09)
One Comment
I know Steve from 20 years ago. He is a good businessman and he always had great ideas. It is unfortunate that he got swindled by these scums of the earth. I know he is a survivor and I think he will overcome this problem just as he did with his countless past problems.
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