The crackdown on smuggling of agricultural products ordered by President Marcos Jr. is timely and appropriate considering that prices of onion, among other crops, remain abnormally high.
The president’s directive to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the smuggling of onion and other agricultural products comes close on the heels of the recent hearing of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture and food that confirmed the existence of an onion cartel.
Committee head Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo herself relayed the outcome of the panel’s hearings to the Chief Executive, who promptly issued the order.
Quimbo told the President the cartel has been operating through Philippine VIEVA Group of Companies Incorporated (PVGCI). This company is also alleged to be engaged in farming, importation, local trading, warehousing, and logistics.
How come this cartel has been allowed to continue operating by authorities? The public deserves a clear answer.
The President believes there is sufficient ground for an investigation as the operation of the cartel constitutes economic sabotage.
“That is why we are going to be very, very strict about finding these people and making sure they are brought to justice,” he pointed out.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez has stated the lower chamber of Congress is ready to cooperate with the authorities who are investigating agricultural smuggling.
Romualdez welcomed the president’s order for the NBI and the DOJ to go after agricultural smugglers as it showed the government’s resolve to clamp down on unscrupulous businessmen preying on hapless Filipino consumers.
“The House of Representatives is ready to provide our authorities with the data uncovered from our committee hearings to provide them a head start in their own investigation,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez also assured President Marcos the House will continue to monitor the prices of agricultural commodities.
“The President’s directive should be enough to deter further supply manipulation of agricultural products and help stabilize prices, especially amid reports that prices of onion are on the rise again.”
The government is on the right track in conducting an honest-to-goodness probe of agricultural smuggling.
The President has issued clear and unequivocal orders to start the investigation and to stop smuggling and hoarding activities of unscrupulous traders.
The NBI and the DOJ should step up to the plate and give the smugglers and hoarders their comeuppance and send them to jail.