Davidson Bangayan, who is said to be also David Tan, an alleged kingpin of rice smuggling, showed up at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) headquarters.
He was briefly detained and investigated not for rice smuggling, but for alleged pilferage of electricity, the reason why he was summoned by the NBI.
“David Tan” told reporters there was no need for smuggling rice since “(rice) importation has been liberalized.”
* * *
But why single out Tan for rice smuggling?
Why not investigate Lito Banayo, former administrator of the National Food Authority (NFA), for “liberalizing” rice importation?
Rice smuggling was at its peak during the time of Banayo as NFA administrator, according to my sources at the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture.
Banayo resigned when he learned that Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala was watching him closely.
Banayo said he was preparing to run for Congress in Butuan City, his hometown, but later said he was sick that’s why he didn’t run.
According to my sources, he made a big pile giving rice import permits which were used by smugglers many times.
Should Congress decide to investigate rice smuggling, it should summon Banayo.
* * *
Sara Duterte-Carpio, former Davao City mayor and daughter of incumbent Mayor Rody Duterte, was apprehended for speeding by the city’s traffic marshals.
Carpio didn’t tell the traffic marshals: “Di ba ninyo ako kilala (Don’t you know me)?”
Instead, the former mayor said, “I’m sorry, I thought it was 60 kph along Quimpo (Boulevard),” while she was being handed a traffic ticket.
Sara’s father, the current mayor, has issued an executive order setting the speed limit of vehicles at 40 kilometers per hour on crowded streets and 60 kph on the highway.
Sara, who became controversial for punching a court sheriff in the face when she was mayor, was doing 60 kph on Quimpo Boulevard, a crowded area and therefore a 40-kph zone.
Now, do you still wonder why Davao City is considered the best city to live in in the entire country?
No one is a sacred cow in Davao City; not even the mayor’s daughter who is a former mayor herself.