Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 1 February 1 - 7, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
Benguet
Officials to Charge BPI with Economic Sabotage LA
TRINIDAD, Benguet – The provincial government is considering the filing of a
legal case, economic sabotage, against officials of the Bureau of Plant and
Industry (BPI) as a last resort to put a stop to illegal importation of
vegetables. BY
TINA SALES This
developed as local officials at the provincial and municipal levels joined
forces with traders and farmers compiling pieces of evidence. “We
are in the process of reviewing available papers and gathering at the same time
some important documents to determine squarely the technical and legal aspects
for filing of economic sabotage against officials of BPI,” Benguet Gov. Raul
Molintas told reporters. The
planned move stemmed from new information gathered by the Anti-Smuggling Task
Force, among the members of which include La Trinidad Council Trade and Commerce
Chairman John Kim and presidents of the various traders’, distributors’ and
farmers’ groups Benguet Vegetable Distributors Cooperative Chairman Alfredo
Alangdeo, Early Birds Traders’ Association President Edson Simeon and Bagsakan
Municipal Clusters Vegetable Traders’ Association, among others. The
group found early this month that former BPI Director Blo Umpaar Adiong issued
an agency memorandum order allowing the importation of ginger, potatoes and
carrots from China on June 20 last year. Likewise a memorandum letter to all
importers dated Dec. 12 suspended the importation of carrots and potatoes from
China. Adiong
apparently issued the order upon the recommendation of former BPI Quarantine
Larry Lacson for the agency to accredit six processing facilities said to have
met the Philippine and international standards subject to four conditions. These
conditions included the issuance of import permit (IP), phyto-chemical
certificate (PC), presentation of original IP and PC to the plant and that any
of the three documents shall only be processed at the BPI-accredited facilities
in China. Lacson made the recommendation after a six-day visit to China for the
conduct of a Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) of Chinese vegetables. Questionable
procedures Kim
and company, however, strongly questioned the procedures saying that the
six–day PRA made by Lacson does not merit the issuance of such recommendation
because “it would normally take six to eight months to complete the test and
be able to get and determine the toxicity level of vegetables, among others.” The
group also questioned the six facilities indicated by Adiong in his memo. Kim
said that the document particularly specified only for ginger and did not
include potatoes and carrots, saying that “there is an apparent move to
mislead stakeholders with the inclusion of the two additional items.” The
group also doubted the authenticity of Dec. 12, 2003 letter suspending the
importation of carrots and potatoes. “When
we questioned Lacson on the content of his recommendation specifically on the
importation of carrots and potatoes, he personally told us that Adiong issued a
verbal order to suspend the importation of carrots and permit and that no
official written order was made. Then, three days after, we got hold of the
December 12 order written in a plain bond paper indicating it was done hurriedly
to cover-up certain irregularities in the agency.” As
this developed, Molintas made a formal query on the new findings made by the
group as indicated in his letter to DA secretary Luis Lorenzo dated Jan. 5. Meanwhile,
Molintas learned that there was 2,000 unused import permits missing between
November to December 2003 from the BPI, “they might have been used during the
holiday season that is why there was an influx of imported vegetable last
December.” Molintas
said that depending on the on-going investigation being conducted by his office
on this recent development, he enjoined all concerned groups including other
provinces to join Benguet in filing a class suit of economic sabotage against
BPI officials. Meanwhile,
prices of high value crops such as broccoli, and cauliflower including carrots
reportedly continued to decrease. Wholesale price is pegged between three to
five pesos per kilo in the two last weeks. “Only last Friday, the Bureau of Customs confiscated four truck/vans of onions mixed with carrots from China,” Kim disclosed. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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