AUTHORITIES discovered at least 60,000 bags of suspected hoarded sugar in four more warehouses in Guiguinto, Bulacan over the weekend as they continued to address the “artificial” shortage and bring down the price of the commodity.
Malacañang said Customs personnel used their visitorial power to inspect four warehouses in T12 Polo Land, Ilang-Ilang street in Barangay Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan late Saturday afternoon upon the orders of President and concurrent Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
Fifty kilograms per sack of imported sugar from Thailand were found in the inspected warehouses. Of the four warehouses, at least two were half-full while one has sacks of sugar neatly stacked up to the roof.
Following the discovery of a huge volume of sugar in various warehouses in Luzon, Malacañang concluded that there is currently an “artificial” sugar shortage as it suspects that sugar traders are hoarding the commodity to rake in huge profits from the sudden spike in sugar prices.
The warehouse caretaker told Customs inspectors that the sugar from Thailand had just been delivered from the Manila International Container Terminal Friday (August 18) evening, Malacañang said.
Moreover, authorities also learned that the import permit used for Thailand sugar was the allocation for Sugar Order No. 3 issued in February by the Sugar Regulatory Board.
Customs officials are now conducting verification on the authenticity of the importation documents presented to them by the warehouse caretaker in Guiguinto, Bulacan.
On orders of the President, the Office of the Executive Secretary had earlier directed the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) to account for the 63,000 metric tons of sugar from the 200,000 MT importation authorized under Sugar Order No. 3.
Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez earlier raised suspicion about why the SRA could not account for the 63,000 MT of sugar, which was the balance from the 200,000 MT under Sugar Order No. 3 approved by the Sugar Regulatory Board in February.
To recall, Subic Port customs personnel have seized 140,000 bags of imported sugar from Thailand equivalent to 7,000 metric tons.
Authorities suspect that a “recycled permit” was used for the cargo, meaning, it was already used for an earlier sugar shipment.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles earlier said heads may roll at the Bureau of Customs (BOC) if the evidence would show that any of the agency’s personnel connived with smugglers using recycled sugar import permits.
On Thursday, a combined 44,000 sacks of sugar estimated to be worth P220 million were seized by Customs personnel in different warehouses in Pampanga and Bulacan.
In a span of two days, simultaneous operations were conducted by the BOC, the SRA and the Department of Agriculture to inspect sugar warehouses in Deparo, Caloocan City; Balut in Tondo and San Nicolas in Manila; Rosales, Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Ibaan, Batangas, and Davao.
Image credits: ops.gov.ph