As a former lawyer Rodrigo Duterte has had a unique way of managing state affairs since his inauguration as president of the archipelago in 2016.
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On July 30th, 2018 he traveled to Port Irene to witness the destruction of 68 luxury vehicles. Rest assured, these cars were contraband, but the footage is still shocking for any car lovers. The total value of this fleet of illegal luxury was estimated at 227 million Philippine pesos, or almost £3.3 million. These vehicles had been illegally imported into the territory and no taxes had been paid when they passed through customs, sufficient enough reason for Duterte to order their destruction.
‘I decided to destroy these contraband vehicles because we have to show the world that we are a viable place,’ he said in his introductory remarks.
Destroyed by bulldozer
The video of the destruction was shared by the official Facebook account of the Philippine state, and relayed on social networks. After a long presentation of the vehicles, the process begins. Bulldozers and backhoes can be seen crushing and flattening the 60 luxury cars and motorcycles, assembly line style. The process lasted less than an hour. Fast and effective.
Note that this was not the first time this happened, last February thirty cars suffered the same fate.