Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (File photo by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez on Sunday vowed to send to jail uncooperative resource persons invited to the House Committee on Agriculture and Food’s investigation on the hoarding of agricultural products.
“I cannot stress enough for these resource persons the importance of cooperating with the committee: lie to lawmakers and you will all find yourselves in jail,” Romualdez warned.
“We need to lower the prices of onions and decimate the cartel [at] the soonest possible time. And I guarantee the imprisonment of those exploitative and abusive individuals and business owners behind the cartel. Our constituents need an immediate reprieve from the high prices of agricultural goods,” he added.
The House of Representatives earlier lifted the citation for contempt against three officials of the Argo International Forwarders Inc. — for refusing to cooperate with the investigation — after they assured the panel that they would cooperate and submit documents that could help establish price manipulation of onions and provide leads to the identity of the cartel’s leaders.
“Let your detention by the committee be a lesson: if you will not tell us the truth, we will send you to jail,” said Romualdez.
Romualdez issued another warning to those conniving with the onion cartel, especially those in the government.
“The committee will not spare anyone who helped these unscrupulous individuals, even those from the government. You are equally guilty of causing the suffering of the Filipino people,” Romualdez stressed.