Filed under: Government/Legal, Supercars, BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari

A Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche Cayenne, Carrera, BMW and possibly 15 more high-end auos have been sentenced to death via steam roller by the President of the Phillipines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The cars had been smuggled into the country through a former US Naval base in Subic, and Pres. Arroyo is determined to make a spectacle of their destruction and discourage other would be smugglers from attempting to avoid import taxes. The event will be even broadcast live across the country, and will no doubt appear on You Tube soon after. We’ll let you know when it does.

The Phillipines used to auction cars that were caught being smuggled into the country, but since the smugglers were usually the auction winners and got their cars back, President Arroyo will sacrifice sculpted sheetmetal, carbon fiber and low-profile rubber to make a point to her people.

Thanks for the tip, Paolo!

[Source: INQUIRER.net]

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Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Supercars, BMW, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari

The exotic cars caught up in the Philippine smuggling controversy from Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, and others were spared due to pending legal action. The owners of those high-end rides are hoping the legal system can help them regain their cars. Standing firm on her plan to crush the cars to discourage the rampant skirting of the law and smuggling of goods, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo went ahead with automotive destruction as planned, while the exotics sat out this round.

It didn’t turn out to be quite the example-setting display of authority that President Arroyo had hoped. She didn’t show - her backup helicopter was suffering a mechanical malady - and the officials that did attend took a few hours to get their act together and decide to smoosh some vehicles in the name of deterring smuggling. 18 vehicles eventually met the business end of a trio of backhoes, sending the message that Arroyo would rather forego the estimated $2 million US dollars the cars would have brought at auction. Instead of a multi-million dollar windfall, it looks like there’s a new environmentally hazardous site at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s impound, and the cars will be sold for scrap for the paltry sum of 150,000 Philippine pesos, a little more than $3,200. Finance secretary Margarito Teves acknowledged that the government would be foregoing revenues to send an anti-smuggling message.

Thanks for the tip, Alex!

[Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer via Autojab]

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