Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 16) — A large-scale smuggler responsible for bringing in 30 containers of onion was arrested Wednesday morning, Sen. Cynthia Villar said during Senate budget deliberations on Wednesday.
\”They have arrested him this morning — large-scale smuggler [of] onions,\” Villar said, adding that the DA has filed 15 cases against onion smugglers but five were dismissed by the courts.
\”You can see that everything is dismissed by the court,\” Villar, the sponsor of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) 2024 budget, said. \” I want them (smugglers) to be non-bailable para at least i-dismiss man ng court, nakaranas na siyang makulong.\”
[Translation: I want them to be non-bailable so that at least if the court dismisses the case, he has already experienced imprisonment.]
Villar also mentioned that the department is trying to file a case against Lilia \”Lea\” Cruz, another supposed big-time onion smuggler who owns six companies.
Cruz allegedly engineered the artificial spike in onion prices late last year until the early part of 2023.
EXPLAINER: Why onions in PH are now more expensive than meat
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo earlier said Cruz operates the biggest onion cartel in the country through Philippine VIEVA Corporation.
