Senior Undersecretary Domingo Panganiban of the Department of Agriculture has practically admitted that certain high-ranking government officials were behind a cartel involved in sugar smuggling in the country, Sen. Risa Hontiveros claimed. /PDI
“By their own admission, in black and white, they were aware that shipments of sugar arrived in the country way before … the earliest date the validly imported supply … could reach our ports,” she pointed out.Under the law, Hontiveros said any shipment of imported sugar under SO 6 should arrive in the country not earlier than March 1.
In his memorandum, Panganiban confirmed Hontiveros’ information that 440,000 MT of sugar to be imported by the Philippines had already been allocated to three traders — All Asian Countertrade Inc. , Edison Lee Marketing Corp. and S&D Sucden Philippines Inc. . “We should not allow our agricultural processes to be defined by kickbacks, shady contracts, and corruption. If we do not act soon, prices of basic goods will remain high and in the end, consumers and their families will suffer the consequences,” she warned.
“Since they had no proper permits, those shipments should be considered as the subject of large-scale agricultural smuggling,” she insisted.
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