SENATORS on Tuesday revealed the names of four alleged big-time smugglers of agricultural products, but they failed in pressuring agriculture officials to disclose the names of their supposed protectors responsible for emboldening the “brazen” display of their illegal activities.
During the third committee-of-the-whole hearing on agricultural smuggling, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he had obtained a dossier from the intelligence units of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) naming Manuel Tan, Andrew Chang, and Luz Cruz as alleged vegetable smugglers.
Also on Sotto’s list was a handwritten name of Mayor Democrito “Jun” Diamante of Tuburan town in Cebu province as an alleged smuggler of agri-fishery products.
According to Sotto, Tan supposedly operates in the ports of Subic in Zambales, Cagayan de Oro and Batangas, while Chang purportedly does business in Subic and Batangas ports, the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and at the Port of Manila.
Cruz, tagged as “Onion Queen,” also operates in the ports of Subic, MICP, and CDO, while Diamante allegedly operates at the CDO port.
Diamante was tagged by Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a 2017 exposé of alleged bribery of Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials under the agency’s “tara” or payola system.
Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the committee on agriculture and food, manifested her dismay that Cruz had been identified as an alleged onion smuggler as early as 2014, and yet managed to resume her activities until today.
The names the Senate President disclosed were confirmed by Edsel Batalla, director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Nica), as among those that they were investigating for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of agricultural products.
According to the Nica head, the four named by Sotto were among the more than 20 personalities — suspected smugglers and their protectors — who they were probing, but repeatedly clarified that these were still “under validation.”
Upon Sotto’s prodding, Batalla assured the committee that he would submit a copy of the Nica’s list of the main players in the agricultural smuggling racket, but only after securing clearance from his superiors. (©Philippine Daily Inquirer 2022/Melvin Gascon)
