DAVAO CITY – Ten containers of smuggled “ukay-ukay” or used clothing worth P4.8 million intercepted at the Port of Davao here were destroyed in the first quarter of 2021, an official of Bureau of Customs (BOC)-Davao said.

Atty. Erastus Sandino B. Austria, district collector of BOC-Davao, said that there is no letup in their efforts to secure the borders of the region just to ensure that contrabands would not reach the local markets.

Austria said the entry of illegal items pose health threats to local buyers.

He said the ukay-ukay must be condemned as this is one of the items whose importation is prohibited under Republic Act (RA) No. 4653 passed in 1966 “to safeguard the health of the people and maintain the dignity of the nation by declaring it a national policy to prohibit the commercial importation of textile articles commonly known as used clothing and rags.” “If it’s absolutely prohibited, then we cannot auction them, we cannot sell them, we cannot give them away. We have to destroy them through the accredited condemnation facility,” Austria said.

Aside from used clothing, he added that the Collection District 12 of BOC-Davao also seized cigarettes worth P5.716 million; P447,614 medicines and cosmetics; P547,788.95 electronics; and P77,568.83 general merchandise.

“It can be dangerous if it reaches the market and to the consumers because this may potentially pose a health threat. It is our duty and responsibility to ensure that this will not happen,” he said.

Some items with “commercial value” can be put in public auction to “raise revenue” for the government, except for items whose importation is prohibited, he said.