Probe sought on smuggling of agri products

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said he would apply the full force of the law and leave no stones unturned to unmask government officials conniving with smugglers when the Senate conducts its inquiry on the rampant smuggling of rice, onions and other agricultural products.

Magsaysay issued this statement following his visit last Tuesday at the Bureau of Customs to inspect vans of smuggled agricultural products seized and impounded by customs authority. Most of the vans contain onions from China and Hongkong.

The senator earlier filed a resolution urging the Senate’s committee on agriculture and food, which he chairs, to conduct an omnibus and urgent inquiry on the rampant smuggling of rice and other agriculture products.

"Despite the projected 14,495,971 metric tons palay production this year, based on data provided by the Department of Agriculture, there are reports that rice smuggling has reached alarming levels, with the smuggling syndicates working in cahoots with some personnel of concerned government agencies," the senator said.

Magsaysay believes that rice smuggling became rampant following the official disclosure by the National Food Authority that their stocks fell to dangerously low levels with no provision for expedient replenishment, similar to bitter experience the Philippines had in 1995.

The senator was also alarmed by documented reports that a group of trader-importers is asking the Bureau of Plant Industry to approve 74 import permits representing shipments of imported Yellow Granex variety of onions reportedly loaded in more or less 160 container vans which have not passed the phytosanitary regulations. The importers reportedly claimed that the said shipment have either arrived or were in transit.