All 12 luxury cars owned by the family of flood control contractor Sarah Discaya have no criminal ties and are not flagged for any violations, the Philippine National Police – Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) confirmed on Friday, Sept. 15.

PNP-HPG spokesperson Police Lieutenant Nadame Malang said they verified the documents of the luxury cars after the Bureau of Customs (BOC) placed them under its custody and asked the police for help to verify their documents as part of an ongoing investigation into the alleged anomalous flood control projects linked to the Discayas.

The PNP-HPG’s verification process for luxury cars is designed to check whether the vehicles have complete and authentic documents. Part of the process involves confirming registration, importation, and customs papers with concerned agencies such as the BOC and the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

“Sa ulat na nakuha natin patungkol sa pagkakakilanlan ng mga sasakyan, hindi po alarmado or hindi nasangkot sa anumang krimen ang mga sasakyan na pinaberipika sa atin (In the report we obtained regarding the identification of the vehicles, the cars that underwent verification were neither flagged nor involved in any crime),” he said.

The PNP-HPG turned over the records indicating the type of vehicle, the registered owner, motor vehicle (MV) file number, and plate number of the luxury cars to the BOC for further investigation.

“Ang mga luxury cars bago marehistro sa atin or bago dumaan sa PNP-HPG, kailangan kumpleto po ang kanilang mga dokumento. Kapag ito ay kulang at hindi po pasado o hindi okay at hindi sapat sa requirements para magkaroon ng clearance sa amin, talaga pong hindi po makakapasok sa amin (Before luxury cars can be registered with us or go through the PNP-HPG, their documents must be complete. If the requirements are lacking, insufficient, or do not meet the standards for clearance, they will not be allowed to proceed),” Malang stressed.

He said the usual modus operandi of luxury car smugglers includes faking the documents that are submitted to the PNP-HPG during the verification process.

“Ito po ay kaagad na tinatawag ng PNP-HPG sa mga ahensyang pinagdaanan ng mga dokumentong ito para macertify at malaman namin at maging basic reference po ng PNP-HPG para bigyan ng clearance (The PNP-HPG immediately coordinates with the agencies that processed these documents to have them certified, and these serve as the PNP-HPG’s basic reference in issuing clearance),” Malang added.

Meanwhile, Malang said the PNP-HPG is ready to assist other government agencies if there is a need to inspect the documents of other vehicles of the Discayas or other contractors to check whether these underwent the proper registration.

“Ang posisyon ng PNP-HPG, binibigay na po natin ito sa BOC at kung sila man po ay magbibigay naman or manghihingi ng tulong sa atin para makapagbigay ng additional na pagsusuri sa mga sasakyan pong nabanggit po sa mga personalidad or sa nasasangkot sa kontrobersiya, open po ang PNP-HPG anumang oras (The position of the PNP-HPG is that we turn this over to the BOC, and if they request our assistance to conduct further inspections of the vehicles linked to the individuals or personalities involved in the controversy, the PNP-HPG is open to provide support at any time),” he added.

The 12 luxury cars were placed under the custody of the BOC after a recent raid at the compound of the St. Gerard Construction General Contractor and Development Corp. in Pasig City last Tuesday. Aside from this, 16 more vehicles were surrendered by the Discayas to the BOC on Thursday.