DAVAO CITY (December 4) — President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar to run after smuggling and possibly to stop the illegal trade in her city.
For years, Zamboanga City has been the smugglers haven and it has been tagged as the smuggling capital of Mindanao.
When Duterte visited the city on November 26, he ordered Salazar to do everything to stop the illegal activities, saying the government is at the losing end, because right taxes are not remitted to the national coffers and it operates at the expense of legitimate business operators.
Duterte went to see Climaco at the sidelines, when he awarded the medals to the soldiers wounded in the recent clashes with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.
On Monday, December 3, Salazar revealed, “The instruction of President Duterte given me is to arrest them (smugglers).”
She said the President also reminded the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and all concerned agencies that “we are under martial law and as local chief executive, we are clothed with authority to implement anti-smuggling campaign.”
The city government of Zamboanga has yet to show the government of its sincerity to implement the order as of presstime.-NewsLine with reports from PNA.
