SENATE President Vicento Sotto III on Tuesday bared four names of “high-profile” individuals allegedly involved in the rampant agricultural smuggling in the country.
At the third hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole, Sotto identified four people listed as allegedly involved in the smuggling of agricultural goods nationwide.
The names revealed by Sotto were: a certain Manuel Tan, one Andrew Chang, a Leah Luz Cruz and a cer2tain Jun Diamante. Sotto said Tan “operates” in Subic, Cagayan de Oro and Batangas while Chang allegedly moves in Subic, Manila International Container Terminal and Batangas.
Sotto claimed that Cruz allegedly handles some operations in Subic, Manila International Container Terminal, Cagayan de Oro and is supposedly called the “Onion Queen.” Diamante, per information he received, was tagged in the smuggling of agri-fisheries products in Cagayan de Oro.
At the hearing, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) Director Edsel T. Batalla confirmed that the four names disclosed by Sotto are part of a list that NICA is investigating for alleged involvement in smuggling.
Batalla revealed that NICA’s list contains more than 20 personalities including socalled “protectors” from the government.
When asked if Batalla would share the list with the committee, he said he would first seek permission from his principals since it was confidential information.
Nonetheless, Batalla explained that the NICA is already validating the names included in the list to determine if the identified people are indeed involved in agricultural smuggling.
Bureau of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo B. Guerrero told senators that he was familiar with some of the names revealed by Sotto while it was his first time to learn some of the names. Guerrero said the BOC would also validate the involvement of the identified people in smuggling.
In his closing statement, Sotto scored the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) for “failing terribly” in protecting the agriculture sector from smuggling.
Sotto also called out Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar for his continued absence in the Senate Committee of the Whole hearings. Dar has been sending representatives from the DA to attend the hearings.
“How are we going to be enlightened if the leader of the agency that we want to talk with doesn’t want to face us since we conducted these hearings?” he said.
“We would like to reiterate our call to Secretary Dar to attend the next hearing based on his availability. We will be the ones that would adjust [to his schedule]… for us to continue with the investigation,” he added.
Stiffer sanctions
Senators convening as a Committee of the Whole on Tuesday wrapped up information on the rampant smuggling of agricultural products from China into the country, with a view to render a report soon.
In seeking the inquiry, Senate President Sotto earlier delivered a privileged speech denouncing smuggling of agricultural products and assessment issues in the Bureau of Customs.
At the same time, Sotto indicated that Senate probers will pursue efforts to validate information from resource persons on the identities of people linked to smuggled vegetable shipments.
Sotto signalled they are keen to wrap up the inquiry after three hearings and submit a committee report soon. “Even while we are campaigning, we’re trying to squeeze time in for this because this is part of our work, part of our job, so that the Ombudsman can look into the matters at hand.”
Recalling claims that charges were filed for smuggling, Sotto stressed: “We want to know their identities, as until now nobody is in prison.”
Sotto said they are keen to render a committee report “as soon as possible,” likely to endorse consideration and early passage of remedial legislation. With Butch Fernandez