Sugar smugglers, hoarders warned

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At least 72K sacks of sugar seized in Bulacan, Pampanga

MALACAÑANG yesterday warned traders caught smuggling, hoarding, or keeping sugar supply to jack up market prices they will face charges, after government seized at least 72,000 sacks of suspected smuggled or hoarded sugar in Pampanga and Bulacan.

Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez issued the warning after Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized from a warehouse in Barangay del Pilar, San Fernando in Pampanga thousands of sacks of imported sugar, along with imported cornstarch and flour, during its “exercise of visitorial powers” on customs bonded warehouses.

“The BOC’s Pampanga sugar warehouse raid may very well serve as a warning to unscrupulous traders who are currently hoarding their stocks of sugar in order to profit from the current artificial sugar shortage situation,” Rodriguez said in a press release issued by the Office of the Press Secretary through Facebook.

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Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angles, in a briefing, clarified that what happened in Pampanga was an “exercise of visitorial powers” and not a “raid” as earlier announced.

Angeles added that Rodriguez, acting on a directive from President Marcos Jr., ordered the inspection of warehouses to check on the inventory of imported agricultural products “with the aim of finding out if there is hoarding of sugar.”

“At 10 this morning, they conducted an inventory and representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry and the Sugar Regulatory Administration arrived to help determine if these are hoarded sugar and being used for price manipulation,” she said in mixed Filipino and English.

The press release said based on the report of the BOC, “the sacks of sugar appeared old and dusty, evidence of its prolonged storage/hoarding (presumably) to dictate the market prices of sugar.”

Angeles said there were similar “visits” to other warehouses, including in Bulacan.

The Pampanga visit was conducted yesterday morning.

In Bulacan, Angeles said two warehouses in San Jose del Monte were “raided” on Wednesday and Thursday.

She said, the Bulacan “visits” yielded more than 72,000 sacks of sugar or 25,000 to 30,000 sacks in one warehouse and 43,722 sacks in the second warehouse.

COVER

Rodriguez said that in the course of an ongoing investigation into a botched importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar, it was discovered that some traders were pushing for the importation to be able to use it as a “cover for them to release the sugar that they had hoarded but couldn’t release as this would depress prices.”

“Reports reaching the Office of the Executive Secretary said such massive importation of sugar could result in windfall profits for the traders of at least P300 million with a portion of the amount earmarked as lobby money,” the press release said.

Angeles said that during the inspection in Pampanga, operatives of the Clark-based Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) and Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) – quick reaction team visited the Lison Building that houses the New Public Market in San Fernando, Pampanga after receiving intelligence information about the possible smuggling of sugar.

Armed with a letter of authority (LOA) Number 08 15 149 2022 and mission order (MO) No. 08 15 2022 519, the BOC seized the suspected hoarded imported sugar from Thailand “neatly stockpiled by the thousands inside the warehouse” and “by the hundreds inside delivery vans.”

Also found were several “sacks of corn starch from China, sacks of imported flour, plastic products, oil in plastic barrels, motorcycle parts and wheels of different brands, helmets, LED Televisions sets and paints.”

A Chinese-Filipinos warehouse keeper identified as Jimmy Ng received a copy of the LOA and MO during the visit.

The warehouse owners were given 15 days to present necessary documents to prove that the items were legally imported into the country.

BULACAN WAREHOUSES

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In the afternoon, Angeles said, the CIIS headed by officer-in-charge Joeffrey Tacio and the BoC’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) first “raided” on Wednesday a warehouse along Kaypian Road, Barangay Kaypian in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan which yielded an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 sacks of different kinds of sugar.

The warehouse was owned by Victor Chua, who claimed that his sugar stock was “locally purchased.” Chua also received a copy of the LOA which granted the “visitorial power” to the BOC to inspect his warehouses for possible storing smuggled goods.

Angeles, quoting, Tacio said the CIIS is still doing inventory of the seized sugar and gave the warehouse owners 15 days to present the necessary documents and other evidence on why they should not face prosecution and why the seized sugar should not be forfeited in favor of the government.

She said another warehouse owned by Chua also in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan was also visited by the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture Thursday afternoon led by Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste Jr. and San Jose Del Monte chief of police Lt. Col. Cris Cordero.

The warehouse, estimated to between 2,000 and 3,000 square meters in size, had an estimated 42,733 sacks of sugar which is about 2,150 metric tons worth P215 million.

The visit to the warehouses of Chua was “based on information that the warehouse owned by Chua has been storing hoarded sugar aimed at raking huge profits from the current high sugar prices in the market”.

Angeles said there will be more similar inspections in the coming days as it is part of a “series of raids.” She again clarified it is not a raid but an “exercise of visitorial powers.”

150K IMPORTATION

Angeles said a consensus has been reached to import a smaller amount of sugar, at 150,000 metric tons, instead of 300,000 MT. She said the agreement was reached during Marcos’ meeting with Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and sugar industry stakeholders in Malacañang on Wednesday.

“That is the proposed quantity for importation because of the needs of what the President referred to as the industrials. They use sugar for commercial quantities, in large commercial quantities and some jobs are dependent on their continued production,” she said in Filipino.

She said no other detail, such as when the importation will be done, was available.

The President over the weekend said that the supply of sugar is enough to last until October and the government will decide then if it will resort to importation of around 150,000 metric tons instead of an initial plan of the SRA to import 300,000 metric tons.

Marcos has rejected the planned importation 300,000 tons of sugar and Malacañang last week said the importation order was “illegal.” Three officials who signed the order have resigned.

Zubiri said the meeting with Marcos was also attended by stakeholders, including farmers, millers, sugar workers and refiners, and it zeroed in on the sugar importation problem and other issues surrounding the productivity of farmers.

“We thanked the President for not allowing too much importation of sugar to the country that would have affected hundreds of thousands of local farmers and far workers all over the country. We, however, acknowledged the need to import a smaller amount for the industrial and household consumers, as the consensus using available data on the remaining demand was to import at only 150,000 MT. Far from the planned 300,000 MT initially signed off by the resigned Sugar Regulatory Board,” Zubiri said.

AGRI LOGISTICS

Marcos emphasized the importance of addressing the logistics problem in the agriculture sector to lower food prices.

The President raised the concern during the Cabinet meeting in Malacañang.

“The logistical challenge is clear, and we are not handling it,” said Marcos, according to a press release issued by the Presidential News Desk.

The concerns include complaints of forwarders and cargo handlers on policies imposed by local government units (LGUs) as well as the presence of many checkpoints.

Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said he would discuss the issues raised with the PNP and the Department of Trade and Industry, as well as proposals for a revival of express lanes for food trucks, which was carried out during pandemic-induced lockdowns.

Abalos also said another possible solution is applying technology to address the problem.

This includes tracking the delivery of the agricultural products to identify bottlenecks and raise the issues with LGUs.

He said technology could also be used to determine areas having good harvest and enable the delivery of produce to locations experiencing food shortages.

DA REVAMP

Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged Marcos to fix the “deeply problematic” leadership at the Department of Agriculture and appoint a secretary who will focus on preventing an impending crisis on sugar and other essential products.

She said the latest issues hounding the unauthorized order by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) shows that there is a need to reorganize the DA and its attached agencies, adding that the President should “reconsider” his position as concurrent DA secretary.

Marcos is also SRA board chairman.

“The fiasco with the SRA is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the chaotic organization and operation of the DA. The President should reconsider his position and appoint a competent person who will take charge of the DA, end all controversies in the department, and focus on helping farmers and ensuring adequate food supply in the country,” Hontiveros said.

“It is clear by now that having the President also perform the tasks of a DA secretary only causes confusion and dysfunctionality in the bureaucracy. Take note, this took place within the first 100 days of the current administration. The public will continue to suffer from more of these blunders if no reforms are made to the DA’s leadership structure,” Hontiveros said. — With Raymond Africa

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