Chicken smuggle probe set today

The Senate opens an inquiry today into last week’s smuggling of dressed chicken through the Batangas City port in the wake of the bird flu outbreak in many parts of Asia.

The investigation is part of the Senate’s efforts to find out what measures the government is taking to prevent the entry of bird flu, which is reported to be as deadly as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS.

Invited to the inquiry were Customs Commissioner Antonio Bernardo, Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo, Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit and Customs officers assigned at the Port of Batangas, the port of entry of 19 container vans of smuggled chicken parts.

Bernardo has relieved seven of his officers assigned in Batangas. Port collector Edward de la Cuesta has gone on leave. The seven officials are to be reassigned to less sensitive positions in various ports pending clearance from the Commission on Elections.

Only five of the 40-foot container vans were intercepted and impounded. Some of the vans have been found empty in Navotas, their contents apparently already sold in markets in the metropolis.

Bernardo issued an order yesterday that henceforth, all shipment in refrigerated containers be subject to physical inspection and examination to prevent technical smuggling.

He issued the instruction to all port district collectors even as he ordered the filing of criminal cases against Customs officials and employees at the Port of Batangas, including the consignee, for violations of the Customs Tariff Code in connection with the release of the questionable shipment worth some P50 million.

Agriculture officials have said the smuggled chicken parts came from the United States and Canada, where there is no bird flu. However, they were transshipped through Taiwan, which has reported some bird flu cases and where the vans’ contents could have been replaced with contaminated chicken.

In the wake of such a possibility, Dayrit assured the nation that bird flu is transmitted through live chickens and not their meat.

Chicken meat is safe, especially when cooked, he said.

Some concerned officials suspect that a wealthy Filipino-Chinese trader, who is a former friend of ousted President Joseph Estrada, is behind the chicken smuggling. The Estrada friend is now a crony of a powerful personality in the Arroyo administration.

Estrada had once labeled the trader as one of the biggest smugglers in the country. The businessman also operates duty-free shops at the Clark and Subic freeports and retail stores in Metro Manila, where the bulk of the "hot cargo" was believed to have been disposed.

The shipment was declared as "general merchandise" and was not covered by an import permit from the Department of Agriculture (DA. It was also learned that the cargo was sneaked out of the Customs zone at night.

The Senate inquiry was prompted by a resolution introduced by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr.

The two said the nation cannot afford to be complacent as the bird flu outbreak spreads throughout Asia.

"We want to make sure that our government effectively implements the necessary measures to prevent its entry and spread here," they said.

"The shipment is already an act of illegal importation considering the absence of documentary requirements such as import permit and veterinary quarantine clearance, which accordingly, the (DA), through the Bureau of Animal Industry, as the sole authority issuing these permits, did not issue and at the same time failed to inspect," the two senators said in their joint resolution.

According to the two senators, it has been reported that the container vans originated from Oakland, California, Savannah in Georgia, and Vancouver in Canada. — Jess Diaz, Rey Arquiza