DA exec confirms calls from ‘big-time’ individuals tagged in smuggling

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste Jr. claims receiving calls from personalities allegedly involved with smuggling during a hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on agricultural smuggling. Screengrab from Senate livestream

MANILA, Philippines — An agriculture official on Monday confirmed to senators that “big-time” personalities allegedly involved in smuggling have called him up when cases are being prepared against smugglers.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste Jr. made this confirmation during a hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on agricultural smuggling.

This, when Benguet Provincial Board member Robert Namoro asked him about what transpired during a dialogue with Benguet farmers and officials from the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Department of Agriculture (DA) last Mar. 19.

Citing a transcript of the meeting, Namoro said “Laciste admitted that big-time personalities who are involved in the smuggling call him every now and then for favors.”

“He especially mentioned politicians. I just want to clarify this issue if this is really the statement of Laciste during the meeting,” Namoro asked senators.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III called on Laciste, who then confirmed this.

“Yes, Mr. President, na-mention ko po yun. Meron po kasing nung mga hinuhuli ko sir, nung mga cases nung 2021, may mga tumatawag po kasi sa akin noon mga matataas na tao,” Laciste said.

(Yes, Mr. President, I mentioned that. Because we were trying to catch, involving cases in 2021, there are high-level people calling.)

“Mga dating nakapwesto (Those who used to hold positions),” he added. He did not elaborate.

But Laciste said he did not act on the phone calls and pushed through with the filing of the cases.

“Ang ginawa ko po dun, di ko na po inaksyunan. Instead, tinuloy pa rin namin yung paghuli at pagkaso [What I did, I did not act on it, instead we pursued the cases],” he said.

When asked by Sotto to divulge the identities of the said callers, Laciste asked if he can make the disclosure during an executive session.

Sotto instead asked the DA official to write down the names and give the list to him.

“We will know how to handle it,” Sotto said.

In an ambush interview after the hearing, Sotto, citing Namoro, noted that the list includes former and incumbent government officials.

“Merong former pero merong incumbent according sa board member ng Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Benguet. He heard Asec. Laciste himself,” the Senate president told reporters.

(There are former and incumbent according to the board member of the Benguet Provincial Board. He heard Asec. Laciste himself.)

The committee resumed its investigation into the smuggling of agricultural products into the country on Monday. The first hearing was conducted last December.

READ: Local farmers lose P2.5M daily to carrot smugglers

During Monday’s hearing, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) was pressed to automate its process to prevent smuggling.

“Why are you not interested to automate? I offered my help to augment the BOC funds to fully automate and this was in 2018, but I did not get a positive reaction from BOC,” Senator Panfilo Lacson said.

In response, BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Maronilla said the bureau has “ventured into a lot of modernization projects.”

Maronilla said the BOC will give senators a list of these initiatives.

For his part, Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III stressed the need to require retailers of agricultural products and other goods to inform consumers of the origin of the items being sold to them.

“The origin of the goods is now important to know,” Pimentel, who chairs the Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship, said.

“That has been the problem of the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry), the DA, when they go on their inspection visits and they see products…It was not specified where they came from, they can easily claim that the items are local, when they are actually smuggled,” the senator added.

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