I must have been so preoccupied with my various advocacies and work that I didn’t even notice the years that passed since I appeared in one of the Senate Committee on Agriculture hearings on rice smuggling, where I identified a certain Davidson Bangayan as the same person as David Tan, the alleged big-time rice smuggler, after government investigators on the rice-smuggling issue practically faced a blank wall on the real identity of David Tan.
In fact, during that hearing, no less than President Duterte, who was then-Davao City mayor, also identified Davidson Bangayan as the same person as David Tan. Duterte strongly deplores rice smuggling.
But I can still remember that after the Senate hearings, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a case against Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan for rice smuggling at the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, I would learn later that the case against Bangayan was returned by the DOJ to the NBI, for allegedly lack of material evidence to substantiate the latter’s case against Bangayan. And after that, a long eerie silence on Bangayan and the case against him followed.
That silence worries me though. I remember the famous quotation of Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the fourth century, that says: “In some causes silence is dangerous.”
But it’s not only this writer that is wondering what happened to the Bangayan case. In one of the recent hearings of the Senate Committee on Agriculture on rice shortage, Sen. Grace Poe said, “Matagal na nating naririnig ang pangalan ni Davidson Bangayan/David Tan. Nasa hearing natin ’yan noon. Mismong ang Presidente, sinabi niya na siya ay dadakpin. Hindi pa matunton. May kaso ba yan o hanggang ngayon wala pa rin?” Poe asked
How I got Involved in the Bangayan case
I could have chosen to stay on the sidelines and just watch the unfolding developments on the Senate hearings on rice smuggling where a certain David Tan allegedly called the shots. But the nationalistic and consumerist side of me prompted me to come out with a document, executed by a Davidson Bangayan himself, that practically connected him to be the same person as David Tan.
For the NBI investigators who were already facing a blank wall on who David Tan really is, my information proved very helpful as it gave them a new direction in their investigation.
The document I am referring to is a duly signed and notarized complaint affidavit of Davdison Bangayan againt me for libel. The libel case stemmed from an incident where a Singaporean approached me for help in his problem with Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan regarding their transaction on scrap metals. Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan was then engaged in scrap metal trading through a company he owned, named Advanced Scrap Specialist Corp. And in our radio program with Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, I mentioned about Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan and his questionable shipment for the Singaporean that were supposedly scrap metals but turned out to be used tires.
On that basis Bangayan filed the libel complaint against me. On page 7, paragraph 16 of his complaint affidavit, Bangayan said, “Clearly, the foregoing publicity categorically imputed to me and the company Advanced Scrap Specialists Corp. the following wrongful acts namely swindling, contraband shipment…and the identification of the person referred to in the publication definitely referred to me considering that there is no other person by the name of Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan.”
That affidavit practically nailed Bangayan to the rice-smuggling issue. That is why it remains a big puzzle to me why the case against Bangayan was returned by the DOJ to the NBI. Years have already passed, and we have yet to see a solid case being filed at the appropriate courts against Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan. Prompting me to ask the question what happened to David Tan?
However, lo and behold, I was just told by some of my reliable sources at the NBI that the case against Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan has been refiled. An answered question, I would say, that I hope would finally put to rest my apprehensions about the campaign against rice smuggling in the country.
Thank you President Duterte for being true to your commitment to rid the country of corruption and smugglers, and to give better lives for the Filipinos.
1 comment
I go to school with Davidson Bangayans son in a private school in Manila and he was a rich kid. However, back in the day like grade 8 I remember my friend telling me that he was rich because his dad imports illegal rice.