File charges vs rice smugglers now–Cynthia Villar

Sen. Cynthia Villar. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—To strike fear in the hearts of rice smugglers, the Department of Justice (DOJ) should file charges against them based on a recommendation made by the Senate in 2013, Sen. Cynthia Villar said on Sunday.

The Senate agriculture committee, chaired by Villar, resumes its inquiry into rice smuggling on Monday, with Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the facilitators of rice traders appearing as resource persons.

“The DOJ should file charges now. Otherwise, they will have no fear,” Villar said over dzBB radio, referring to the persons recommended for charging with rice smuggling by the Senate in 2013. “Without the charges, they will continue their activities.”

After an inquiry into the smuggling, a Senate joint committee recommended in early 2013 the prosecution of David Tan, a certain “Danny Ngo,” Danilo Garcia (head of a rice dealers association in Metro Manila) and Willy Sy (owner of Montevallo Enterprises, allegedly a bogus cooperative) for corruption, violation of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines and Republic Act No. 1956, among other laws.

The agriculture committee opened its own inquiry into rice smuggling last week after the name of David Bangayan, aka Tan, surfaced in the media, taking off from the investigation of the joint committee.

At last week’s hearing, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation would file the charges against the personalities once an “airtight case was built.”

Bangayan allegedly paid farmers’ cooperatives to bid for the importation of rice, offering incentives and used the cooperatives as fronts to sell and distribute imported rice, De Lima said, quoting two witnesses.

Bangayan denied he was David Tan, or that he was involved in smuggling. He admitted entering into joint venture agreements with the cooperatives to import rice, and said this was not illegal.

Villar observed that so far, rice cooperatives were being employed by big-time traders to import rice, hence, the need for a more stringent scrutiny of the import permits.

“We’re talking here of a bad practice that we have to solve,” she said.

In Monday’s hearing, the committee invited Duterte, who volunteered to appear before the Senate to unmask Bangayan or Tan, as well as the facilitators of rice traders in the past years.

The Davao City Information Office said Duterte will be at the Senate at 10 a.m.—With a report from Karlos Manlupig, Inquirer Mindanao