MANILA, Philippines—The Ombudsman will investigate the possible involvement of Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials in the smuggling of tainted China milk products into the country.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago suggested the investigation to Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez during Thursday’s Senate hearing on the Ombudsman’s proposed P1-billion budget for next year.

“The importation of toxic infant formula from China falls within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman,” Santiago told reporters after the hearing, pointing out the Ombudsman also had the power to “go out in the field and investigate.”

Santiago said she asked Gutierrez to look into the offices of the customs deputy commissioner for enforcement, chief of the customs intelligence and investigation services, and national customs police, which she said were “mandated with the main job of preventing smuggling.”

No record of registration

Santiago early this week filed an urgent resolution asking the Senate blue ribbon committee to investigate the three customs offices, stressing the China milk products must have been smuggled into the country since the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) had no record of their registration.

When the blue ribbon committee begins its probe, Santiago said she would ask that the heads of the three customs offices be summoned.

“If they cannot prevent smuggling, particularly when it might result in the potential death of infants, their offices might as well be abolished,” she said, adding that one way to do this was by not giving them a budget.

Congress is deliberating the proposed P1.4-trillion budget for 2009.

Commissioner spared

Assistant Ombudsman and field investigation office (FIO) head Mark Jalandoni said investigators would seek to determine how Jolly Cow Slender Milk, Yili Fresh Milk and Mengniu Drink, which were later found to contain melamine, had entered the Philippines.

“As of now, the office of Commissioner Napoleon Morales would be spared from the investigation because we do not see any direct link between him and the release of the contaminated products by the BOC,” Jalandoni said.

The BOC, meantime, has started reviewing the importation records of all shipments of Chinese milk products this year in light of the discovery of melamine in at least three milk brands.

Morales on Thursday ordered all import entry documents for milk products filed between January and September 2008 reexamined to see if they conformed to the country’s regulations for milk importation.

Reexamine entry papers

The move came after the Department of Health and BFAD banned 22 Chinese milk brands which Chinese authorities had found tainted with melamine.

Melamine in milk has caused the deaths of at least four infants and sickened some 50,000 others in China. Melamine is used in the manufacture of plastic products. Manufacturers mix it in milk to raise the protein level.

“I have ordered district collectors to account for all the import entries of milk and milk import products from China. We will check if there were any released without proper BFAD authorization,” Morales said.

The memo was directed at the district collectors at the Port of Manila, Manila International Container Port and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“If any were released on or after the date of the BFAD circular imports (issued Sept. 22) banning all China milk imports, we will hold accountable the [customs] officers and file charges against the importers,” Morales said.

Local dairy industry

A former secretary of agriculture, meanwhile, said Thursday the melamine scare should prompt the government to start paying attention to the local dairy industry.

Leonardo Montemayor, speaking at a Quezon City news forum, said the Philippines spends a whopping $500 million to $600 million (around P25 billion) in dairy imports a year.

“About 99 percent of milk products in the country are imported while only a very small percentage is locally produced,” Montemayor said.

He said lack of financial resources and funding support prevented the local dairy industry from growing.

“We are too preoccupied with rice to pay attention to milk.”

He said the government should allot at least P500 million a year to jump-start the local dairy industry, noting that one dairy animal costs around P70,000 to purchase and import.

“Importing milk would be detrimental to consumers in cases of global dairy price hikes,” Montemayor said.