Customs officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) destroyed 20 tons of goods in Trece Martires, Cavite.

In a statement, Port of NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan said the condemnation proceeding is part of the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) efforts to decongest their storage facilities.

It is also in line with the directive of Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to clear storage facilities of abandoned and illegally shipped items to better facilitate trade within the port.

She added that the goods were destroyed using the thermal decomposer (pyrolysis) facility of the Integrated Waste Management Inc. (IWMI).

Pyrolysis is the thermal decomposition of substance and materials without any trace of molecular oxygen in the destruction chamber.

The activity was in coordination with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Optical Media Board (OMB) National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) and the Commission on Audit (COA).

The condemnation is in accordance with the provisions of Section 1145 (Disposition of Goods Injurious to Public Health) and 1148 (Disposition of Regulated Goods) of the Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. (PNA)