FILE PHOTO: Vegetables and fruits are being sold in a market. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday said he is not setting a deadline for the investigation of agricultural smuggling as he wants it to be extensive.
He stressed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) probe should be thorough because many syndicates involved in the illegal activity are still operating. But Marcos, who concurrently serves as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA), did not elaborate.
“Unang-una, hindi ako mahilig magbigay ng deadline. Gusto ko tapusin nila kaagad pero kailangan tapos hindi hilaw, so let them do their investigation,” said Marcos during an ambush interview in Pasay City.
(First of all, I don’t like giving deadlines. I want them to finish right away, but it should be complete and not raw, so let them do their investigation.)
READ: Marcos orders NBI, DOJ to go after smugglers of agricultural products
“Wala namang partikular. Ang pinag-usapan, ang naging basehan, ‘yung naging problema sa maliwanag na nagho-hoarding,” he added.
(Nothing in particular. What was discussed, the basis, was the problem with the apparent hoarding.)
Marcos repeated that agricultural smuggling is tantamount to economic sabotage.
READ: Marcos blames smuggling, hoarding for high agri prices in Q1
Marcos said the DOJ and NBI investigation may use the House of Representatives findings to start their task.
“Ang utos ko sa DOJ at tyaka sa NBI ay kailangan malaman ninyo na – hindi lamang sa sibuyas – kung hindi sa ating mga sindikato. Marami talagang sindikato na nag-ooperate pa; para habulin na natin, matigil ang kanilang mga ginagawa,” he said.
(My order to the DOJ and the NBI is that you need to know that – not only about onion – but also about syndicates. Many syndicates are still operating, so we can chase them and stop what they are doing.)
READ: Bongbong Marcos eyes pre-shipment check to curb smuggling of agri products
He further said: “Hindi natin basta’t pabayaan ito dahil may ginugutom na Pilipino, may namamatay from starvation and poverty ang Pilipino dahil sa kanilang ginagawa, at hindi maaari matuloy ang kanilang ginagawa.”
(We can’t just let it go because some Filipinos are starving, some Filipinos are dying from starvation and poverty because of what they are doing, and what they are doing cannot continue.)