A lawmaker on Monday requested the House Committee on Ways and Means to subpoena 10 people and corporations in reference to the alleged agricultural smuggling within the nation.
Sultan Kudarat 2nd District Representative Horacio Suansing named the people and corporations in the course of the House methods and means committee inquiry into the smuggling of fundamental commodities and tobacco, together with purple onions which had value as excessive as P700 per kilo.
“I, as principal author of House Resolution No. 311, would like to request the Committee on Ways and Means to issue subpoenas for the following brokers/importers/facilitators allegedly involved in large-scale agricultural smuggling in local ports in the Philippines, namely:
- Michael Ma;
- Lujene Ang (300+ containers per week of GM – MICP);
- Andrew Chang (POM/MICP/Batangas);
- Beverly Peres;
- Aaron;
- Manuel Tan (CDO/Subic/Batangas);
- Leah Cruz (CDO/MICP);
- Jun Diamante (CDO);
- Lucio Lim (Lugene Ang, righthand man in BOC); and
- Gerry Teves (MICP).”
POM stands for Port of Manila, while MICP is the Manila International Container Port. CDO refers to the Port of Cagayan de Oro. BOC is the Bureau of Customs.
Suansing cited that in 2021 alone, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the total value of agricultural imports that entered the Philippines from all countries is $14 million. However, the United Nations trade statistics show that Chinese agricultural and fish exports to the Philippines alone (without fruits and nuts) reached $138 million.
“That is a $124-million gap in reported data from the Philippines and from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database. In the interest of forging and building credibility and confidence on our government processes and institutions, I believe that it is incumbent upon this Chamber to exercise its oversight functions to scrutinize data reported by our own government agencies, to reconcile these data with those reported by international and multilateral organizations, and to recommend legislation and remedial measures, whenever necessary,” mentioned Suansing, a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and likewise member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.
Suansing additionally sought data from the BOC and the Department of Agriculture on the next consignees:
- Victory JM Enterprises;
- Taculog International Consumer Goods Trading;
- Asterzenmed Aggregates;
- Veneta Consumer Goods Trading;
- Lalavy Aggregates Trading;
- Frankie Trading Enterprises;
- Primex Export – Import Producer;
- SB Express Logistics Business Solution;
- Silver Pop Dry Goods Trading;
- Thousand Sunny Enterprises;
- Viogelas Viol Aggregates Trading;
- Junezone Dry Goods Trading; and
- Burias Jang Consumer Goods Trading.
In addition, Suansing additionally sought data and BOC paperwork on the imports finished by PilSHON Corporation, whose cigarette merchandise are allegedly flooding Philippine native markets regardless of solely being declared for transshipment to Malaysia.
“In view of these requests, I will divulge in due time pertinent information on these individuals and personalities, which would make relevant these requests to the Committee and to the concerned government agencies,” Suansing added.
P693 million misplaced
Horacio’s daughter and House methods and means panel senior vice chairperson Mikaela Suansing of Nueva Ecija, for her half, lamented that the unabated smuggling of varied commodities, together with agricultural merchandise, already resulted in P693 million income loss for the federal government 23 days into yr 2023 alone.
“In January 2023 alone, the estimated value of reported smuggled commodities has already totaled to P693 million. Tobacco smuggling alone is estimated to cost the government P24.7 to P26 billion per year, with some estimates placing it as high as P60 billion as an estimated 13-14% of tobacco products sold in the country come from illegal sources,” the youthful Suansing mentioned.
“Similarly, billions of pesos worth of smuggled rice enter the country – with the largest reported case being the unloading of P1 billion worth of smuggled rice which arrived in Iloilo in August 2022. Further, P600 million worth of smuggled onions were intercepted in 2022 alone, while P521.5 million worth of smuggled sugar were seized from different ports since 2021,” she added.
The youthful Suansing additionally mentioned that because the Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 was handed into regulation, solely 93 circumstances have been obtained by the Department of Justice with no conviction made.
“We seek to get a clear picture not only of outright smuggling that bypasses our government’s border control, but also uncover how technical smuggling – that is, the deliberate undervaluation and misdeclaration of goods – is still prevalent and remains to be unaddressed,” she mentioned. —KG, GMA Integrated News
