DOJ urged to hasten probe of BPI anomaly

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been asked to expedite its resolution of a complaint against officials of the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) urged Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to prioritize the investigation into the P200-million anomaly allegedly perpetrated by an importer, whom the group likened to alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

The VACC filed last month a complaint involving supposed anomalous deals between the BPI and businesswoman Leah Cruz, who was accused of monopolizing the importation of garlic to the country.

“By now, it’s a scheme we have all grown too familiar with. Only, it’s not just Congress that has its Napoles, the Department of Agriculture has its in-house version of her too  –  a Leah Cruz, who profits unjustly and illegally, to the tune of nearly P200 million in the last 12 months, through her dealings with the BPI. Like Napoles, Cruz’s companies are also ‘owned’ by her drivers, clerks, and househelp,” VACC lawyer Aried Jawid told reporters yesterday.

Cruz is a recipient of the DA’s Philippines Good Agricultural Practices award. Her alleged companies – Shelmarie Enterprlses, A.G.R. Trading, Bee Jee Trading, and Tumana Trading – were issued “revalidated” importation permits, according to Jawid.

On April 20, 2012, BPI director Clarito Barron issued a memorandum temporarily suspending the issuance of importation permits to revive the garlic industry pursuant to the Garlic Industry Development Road Map.

He, however, immediately lifted the order after having been sued for its release.

“But the lifting did not settle the problem of non-issuance of importation permits for garlic. There should have been no question on this ‘non-issuance’ of importation permits if there were no hundreds of container vans of imported garlic in the market,” the VACC lawyer said.

According to Jawid, after the ban on the issuance of importation permits was lifted, only Cruz’s companies were allowed to import garlic since mid-2012 up to the present.

Cruz has allegedly earned a P192-million windfall from her virtual monopoly of garlic importation in the last 12 months, Jawid said.

In a letter last March to Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon, Barron claimed that the importation permit certificates of extension were signed “without his knowledge, authority and permission.”