Romualdez: Fines on onion cartel just ‘opening salvo’

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez on Friday warned agricultural cartels, particularly those involved in price manipulation and smuggling of essential goods, that they would face hefty fines and serious jail time for economic sabotage.

“Economic sabotage is a crime of the highest order. The law demands life imprisonment for large-scale agricultural smuggling, and we will make sure those responsible face the full force of justice,” Romualdez said.

“These cartels are not just committing fraud; they are endangering our food security and destroying the livelihoods of our farmers,” he added.

The Philippine Competition Commission’s enforcement office has charged and recommended fines totaling P2.42 billion against 12 onion traders and importers, which have been allegedly operating as a cartel since 2019 involved in large-scale smuggling and hoarding operations.

According to the Speaker, “The imposition of P2.4 billion in fines is just the opening salvo. Smugglers and price manipulators will face not just financial repercussions, but serious jail time. We will not tolerate the sabotage of our economy and the exploitation of Filipino families.”

“We are fully committed to wiping out these cartels,” adding, “This is not just about onions. This is about safeguarding our food supply and ensuring that every Filipino has access to affordable agricultural products,” he said.

“The House will not stop until these cartels are dismantled and those responsible for hurting our farmers and consumers are behind bars,” he assured.

Romualdez said the House of Representatives will continue to craft laws and exercise its oversight to help keep inflation down and make food prices affordable to all Filipinos by removing distribution blockages and exposing farm product profiteering practices.

The head of the 300-member chamber assured that the House will continue to assist President Marcos in making goods affordable, citing the Philippine Statistics Authority report of inflation rate slowing down to 3.3 percent in August compared to July’s 4.4 percent.

Romualdez said, “We will help the President by approving pieces of legislation and exercising our oversight power to keep prices down, untangle bottlenecks in the distribution chain that push prices up and to expose abusive practices like hoarding and price manipulation.”