Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 16) — A lawmaker on Tuesday said he believes criminals have conspired with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Customs (BoC) that led to the onion crisis that is affecting both farmers and consumers.
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“Sabi ko nga matitigil lang yan kung yung nagbabantay at binabantayan ay magka-iba,” AGAP Party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones told CNN Philippines’ The Source. “Ang nanghuhuli ng smuggling ay taga-Custom at taga-DA, alam naman natin na ang smuggling mangyayari lang naman kung may kasabwat na taga-Custom at taga-DA.”
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[Translation: I said this will only be stopped if the people being monitored and the people monitoring are different. Those who go after smugglers are from the BoC and DA, we know that smuggling will only happen if there is collusion with those from the BoC and DA.]
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While the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act was passed in 2016, the lawmaker pointed out that implementation is not effective since no one has gotten imprisoned so far.
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To address this, Briones is pushing for the creation of an anti-agricultural smuggling task force under the Office of the President.
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Most of its members should be from sectors affected by the smuggling problem, he said.
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This can be funded through the proposed Livestock, Poultry, and Dairy Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which is like the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund that sources its budget from tariff collected from rice importers.
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“Ang makukuhang pondo ay ₱12. 5 billion a year, so kung makapag-set aside tayo kahit 5% or 10% coming from that funds na kinolekta sa tariff, so may pondo rin yung task force hindi bababa ₱500 (million) to ₱1 billion a year,” Briones noted, adding that this will allow its members to monitor ports for possible entry of smuggled agricultural goods.
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[Translation: The fund to be collected is ₱12.5 billion a year, so if we will be able to set aside even 5% or 10% from those funds collected from tariffs, the task force will have a fund of not less than ₱500 million to ₱1 billion a year.]
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He also said the task force will be allowed to catch those involved and to conduct an investigation, as well as deputize the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to go after violators.
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CNN Philippines has asked DA and BoC to comment, but they have yet to reply.
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Meanwhile, the rising prices of onions pushed the government to approve the importation of over 21,000 metric tons of onions.
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However, Bureau of Plant Industry officer-in-charge Gerald Panganiban told a hearing on Monday that less than 5,000 MT are expected to come in since the application to import thus far only covers 25% of the approved allotment.
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Briones said prices will surely go down especially now that harvest season for onion is about to peak, possibly reaching ₱130- ₱150 a kilo.
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