5 farmers’ cooperative officials charged with rice smuggling
Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla. RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs filed on Thursday smuggling charges before the Department of Justice against top officials of the San Carlos Multipurpose Cooperative (Sacamuco) for the alleged illegal importation last year of P34 million worth of Vietnamese rice.
Customs officials, led by Commissioner John Phillip Sevilla, identified the executives of the Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro-based farmers group as Marivic Canillo, chairman; board members Felipe Gamuyao, Felipe Paas Jr., Aurelio Tome jr. and Percy Reyes, as well as manager Doris Ortega.
The erring cooperative’s customs broker, Marvin Cortez, was also named as case respondent.
For bringing in rice into the country without the required import permit, the seven respondents were charged with violating Section 3602 of the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines and Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code.
In a statement, Sevilla said “as we vigorously challenge the court cases being filed against us by some rice traders, we are committed to prosecuting those who continue to import rice illegally.”
“These practices are not only unfair to legitimate rice dealers and sellers, but also cause harm to our farmers,” the former finance undersecretary for privatization also said.
Initial investigation by the Department of Finance-attached agency showed that the Sacamuco “misdeclared both the actual quantity of rice it imported last year and where the shipment came from.”
“In its import entries, the cooperative declared that the rice shipment, which arrived in 55 20-foot containers between August 27 and September 16, came from Thailand and that each container had only 380 sacks of rice. However, further examination showed that the rice imports actually originated from Vietnam and that each container had as much as 520 sacks of rice,” said the BOC.
Last year, the Bureau of Customs filed a total of 22 rice smuggling cases under its Run After The Smugglers, or RATS program.
During the 12-month period, the agency confiscated P1.2 billion worth of smuggled rice.
The bureau also cancelled the accreditation of 14 rice importing groups for not having enough resources to justify the importation of large volumes of rice.
The BOC named the cooperatives as Conquistar Marketing, Dream the Dream Marketing, Happy Morning Enterprises, Kakampi Multipurpose Cooperative, Kapatiran-Takusa Multipurpose Cooperative, Malipampang Concerned Citizens Multipurpose Cooperative, Pinambaran Farmers Producers Cooperative, Samahang Magsasakang Kapampangan at Katagalugan Multipurpose Cooperative, Thunder Glutch Marketing, Ugnayang Magbubukid ng San Isidro, Vita Rose Marketing, Dragon Clash Enterprises, Masagana Import Export, and King Casey Trading.
Meanwhile, the Customs-run Manila International Container Port (MICP) is set to conduct a public auction on Feb. 14 of several shipments of imported goods that were seized earlier by the agency to “declog the ports and raise additional revenue for the government.”
The confiscated items include, among others, five luxury vehicles and various food items worth, P17.6 million, according to MICP district collector Elmir de la Cruz.
The vehicles — four second-hand units of Cadillac Escalade and a used Lincoln Navigator, all consigned to Miranda Transport Services — have a floor price of P4.55 million.
Also to be sold in the public auction is a shipment of caustic acid, amounting to P5.85 million, and consigned to Sytengco Philippines Corporation; paper materials worth P1.73 million and consigned to Philippine Bonded Warehouse, Inc.; and more than 1,700 cases of groceries and animal feeds consigned to Rustan Supercenters, Inc., among others.
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