JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said there could be as many as 20 individuals involved in the smuggling of onion and garlic in the country but only three or four can be considered as main players.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Remulla said the smugglers operate a “sophisticated network” that controls everything from cornering the supply of onion and garlic in the local market to the operation of cold storage facilities and importation.
On Wednesday, the government official said the Department of Justice (DOJ)) is following up leads on the supposed involvement of former and current government officials in the illegal entry of agricultural goods, particularly onion and garlic, into the country.
“Yung onion, as many as 20 players, pero ang main players is tatlo hanggang apat (In the smuggling of onions, there are as many as 20 players but there are only three or four main players). We have identified (them), we will file cases in due time. We are just verifying their modus,” Remulla said.
“Very sophisticated ang set up nila (They have a very sophisticated set up) and they have mastered the field, from planting season and how to control the supply, paano gamitin ang mga cold storage (how to use cold storage facilities). It’s a micro-managed industry and the cartel have the money to buy all the harvest and they control all imports. That is why the system is compromised,” he said.
Remulla said he will ask officials from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to explain why they have not been able to track the activities of the smuggling syndicates.
“We will have the BOC explain how this is happening. Hindi puwedeng hindi ito alam ng BOC at sa DA, may problema rin sa import permits (It is impossible for the BOC not to know about this, and for the DA, there are also issues on the import permits),” he said, adding the BOC leadership is cooperating in the DOJ probe.
On Tuesday, Remulla said “billions of pesos” in bribe money could have already changed hands as the onion-garlic smuggling operations have been operating for 15 years already, or since 2008.
He said then the DOJ will ask the BOC, Bureau of Plant Industry and other regulatory agencies involved in the granting of import permits for explanation and to provide the necessary documents in the ongoing probe on the smuggling of agricultural products.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his second State of the Nation Address last Monday, warned smugglers and hoarders of agricultural products that their days are already numbered.
Marcos said the government will file charges against the smugglers and hoarders as he called on Congress to amend the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.
Remulla previously said they have the names of those allegedly behind the smuggling activities, adding these are also the same names that have previously cropped up during separate hearings conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
To recall, one of the traders who had so far been named in the congressional hearings was Lilia Cruz, who was identified as the operator of the biggest onion cartel in the country, an allegation the latter has denied.
Last year, Sen. Raffy Tulfo also identified one Michael Yang, an Andrew Chang, Lea Cruz and a Manuel Tan as the individuals allegedly behind agricultural smuggling in the country.
The DOJ has formed an Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Task Force along with a special team of prosecutors “primarily focused on protecting the entire agricultural sector, not only the onion industry.”
Among the members of the task force are the Office of the Prosecutor General headed by Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento, Fadullon and the National Bureau of Investigation headed by Director Medardo de Lemos.
Sen. Imee Marcos asked economic managers to explain why the prices of commodities have not gone down despite a drop in the inflation rate and the importation of agricultural products.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa Senado media forum, Marcos said the high costs of onion and sugar could already be “self-inflicted.”
“Talaga bang bumababa ang presyo kapag nag-i-import? Yun ang tanong (Do prices of these commodities really go down when we import? That is the question). Sobrang mahal pa rin ng mga bilihin. Bumababa ang inflation, pero nagsimula ito sa mataas na patong patong, pero hindi pa rin nararamdaman talaga (Prices of commodities remain very high.
Inflation rate started high but it has gone down, but its effects have not been felt by the people),” Marcos said.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that the country’s inflation rate ballooned to 8.7 percent in January this year, from 8.1 percent in December 2022.
However, it has gone down to 6.6 percent in April, and dipped further to 6.1 percent in May this year.
The DA has allowed the importation of 400,000 metric tons of sugar last February ahead of a sugar order, in what it said was meant to lower the prices of the commodity in the local market.
The DA also allowed the importation of onions after its local market prices shot up to as much as P780 per kilo during the holiday season last year. It said the importation will cut down prices to P70 to P80 per kilo.
But despite a slowdown in inflation rate and importation, Marcos said prices of the agricultural commodities have remained high, with red onion still at P140 per kilo, white onion at P200 per kilo, sugar at more than P100 per kilo. The prices of pork have also not gone down. — With Raymond Africa
