SENATE probers looking into unabated smuggling of agriculture products pressed the Bureau of Customs to render a report on brazen “repeat violators” moving contraband produce into the country’s ports.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, at the hearing of the Senate convening as a Committee of the Whole, asked the Bureau of Customs to “submit an investigative report as to why repeat violators of agricultural smuggling remain brazen in their attempts to move contraband produce into the country.”
Hontiveros referred to a matrix from the BOC on government operations on smuggled agricultural products, noting that based on the report, at least four companies stood out for their repeated transactions.
“Kapansin-pansin ang Zhenpin, Thousand Sunny Enterprise, Dua Te Mira, at Gingarnion Agri Trading,” the senator observed, adding that “these companies were involved in at least P400 million worth of smuggled vegetables. Ibig sabihin, halos kalahati ng [That means, in half of the] P800-million reported apprehensions [of] BOC, [these four area] involved.”
At the same Committee of the Whole hearing, senators castigated Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) officials for allowing the importation of Korean strawberries unloaded in Cebu even as there was ample harvests of strawberries from Benguet.
The BPI is mandated to issue a phytosanitary clearance for imported agriculture products, including fruits and vegetables.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson confronted BPI Director Ariel Bayot on why the BPI was killing the local farm products like carrots, noting observations they are intentionally allowing entry of imported carrots during the local harvest season.
Agot Balanoy, public relations officer of the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Areas, told senators they were able to obtain BPI documents allowing the importation of Korean strawberries for Cebu, but such were declared as “ornamental plants.”
Senators were told it was purportedly intended for Koreans in Cebu but the same could be bought in high-end groceries and malls in the city.
