By Jun Ramirez The Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) has dismissed smuggling charges filed against five wheat flour importers due to incomplete presentation of evidence. Cleared of the criminal offense were Antonio Talaue, Landro Talauee and Analyn Fernandez, president, general manager and executive secretary, respectively of Shore Philippines, Hannah Fernandez, owner of Fil Haus Enterprises and Angel Deray, director of Rubills International. Court of Tax Appeals
Photo credits: cta.judiciary.gov.ph | Manila Bulletin Court records showed that respondents were charged  with  importation of wheat flour without a certificate of product registration from the Bureau of Food and Drugs Administration. The document is required under RA 3720 to ensure that the imported or exported food products are not adulterated or misbranded. Court records said the respondents were accused by the Bureau of Customs of conspiracy in importing 28,000 bags of wheat flour from China worth P9 million without the  BFAD paper. However, the court's Third Division stated that the  prosecution failed to prove the conspiracy angle as some  documents presented were mere photo copies. It said that under the rules only  original documents  are  admissible. It added that from the totality of evidence presented the prosecution was not able to establish the conscious design and participation of the accused in the illegal importation. It noted that the evidence presented by the complainant cannot be used as the basis of convicting the accused as the "available evidence" failed to establish beyond reasonable the guilt of the accused.