AT LEAST four agricultural companies will be blacklisted for alleged involvement in smuggling activities, according to Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
Two of the companies are involved in importing fishery products, one is involved in sugar, while one is in rice, he said.
Speaking at a gathering on Wednesday night, June 26, Laurel said their efforts will be relentless in chasing after alleged smugglers.
“You will see in the next few months, marami akong iba-blacklist na kumpanya, mga smugglers, kahit kaibigan ko iba-blacklist ko,” Laurel said.
He added: “Yung mga smugglers are destroying the industry by undercutting everybody because of illegal acts, kasi that’s economic sabotage eh.”
He has not publicly named the companies yet since investigation is still underway.
Once blacklisted, permits of the company will be voided and they will not be allowed to import agricultural goods.
He has already blacklisted one rice importer due to anomalous activities.
Laurel said they have already plugged a loophole in their policies to prevent similar instances from happening again.
He also admitted some companies tried to bribe him just so he would allow smuggled goods to enter the country.
“Sinuhulan ako ng initially P200,000 per container, umakyat ng P1 million per container, sinunog namin lahat,” he said. (ABS-CBN News)
