UNSCRUPULOUS individuals may soon face stiffer penalty once a bill that addresses rampant smuggling of imported vehicles becomes a law.

Tarlac Rep. Jeci Lapus said House Bill 4362 seeks to squarely address the problem of smuggling of imported vehicles and penalize individuals involved in the illegal activity.

"The occurrence of registration of imported vehicles without clearances from the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) remains unabated despite existing laws," said Lapus, author of the bill.

He said perpetrators are able to register these vehicles with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) without clearances or with clearances tainted with irregularities.

"The illegal entry of imported vehicles in our local market deprives the government of revenues and affects the rate of employment," he said.

Lapus said one of the major economic problems of the country is smuggling of imported vehicles despite the existence of Presidential Decree 1464, otherwise known as the "Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines" and Executive Order 156, which prohibits the importation of imported vehicles.

The irregular and anomalous registration of motor vehicles takes place due to inadequate laws that will respond to advancing methodology in registration processes, he noted.

"The activities of unscrupulous individuals in registering imported vehicles circumvent existing laws to the detriment of the government," the Tarlac lawmaker said.

Under the measure, imported vehicles not prohibited under EO 156 may be registered with the LTO when accompanied with appropriate import documentation and proof of payment of taxes and duties by the BoC and the BIR.

Any person who violates any provision of this proposed Act shall be punished with imprisonment of not more than six years and shall be fined the amount equal to the fair market value of the motor vehicle.

HB 4362 also provides that any government official or employee who is found guilty of gross negligence of duty, connivance or allowing the commission of any of the unlawful acts, in addition to the penalty prescribed in the proposed act, shall be dismissed from the service with prejudice to his reinstatement and with disqualification from voting or being voted for any election and from appointment to any public office.