ILAGAN, Isabela—Four rice seed dealers and some unidentified retailers are facing charges for allegedly selling at least P50 million worth of fake rice seeds in Cagayan Valley, one of the country’s top rice producing regions.
In a complaint-affidavit filed before the prosecutor’s office in Ilagan City, SL Agritech Corp. has charged Daniel delos Santos, owner of DIJD Farm Supply and General Merchandise; Dario delos Santos; Jomar “Jessie” Carpio; Rolly Lazaro; all residents of Munoz East, Roxas, Isabela.
Voltaire Alfonso, SL Agritech vice president, said the suspects were accused of trademark infringement and unfair competition under Section 155 and 168 in relation to Section 170 of Republic Act No. 8593.
“[They will be liable] arising from their constitutional [sic] act of illegally and unlawfully offering for sale, selling and/or distribution of purported SL-8H hybrid rice seeds that are fake, counterfeit and/or confusingly similar with SL Agritech’s genuine SL-8H super hybrid rice seeds,” Alfonso said in the complaint.
Initial investigation conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation shows that the dealers illegally sold and distributed fake hybrid rice seeds to farmers in Isabela, Cagayan, Quirino and Nueva Vizcaya by imitating the sacks and brochures used by the Manila-based SL Agritech Corporation’s high-yielding SL-8H super hybrid rice seeds.
At least 10,000 farmers in the region are beginning to worry of a poor rice crop this coming dry harvest season after planting the fake hybrid rice seeds last November which they have bought from the suspected dealers and other farm suppliers.
Rice farmers said in they were very upset after discovering that the high-yielding SL-8H hybrid rice seeds they had been planting were imitated by dishonest businessmen and dealers in the region using similar sacks and brochures of the Agritech Corporation.
One of the victims, Jing Jing Reglos, 42, also a dealer of San Antonio, Burgos, Isabela said that she bought 70 cavans of fake SL-8H hybrid rice seeds from a local distributor at only P3,900 per cavan for 18 kilos per sack, cheaper than P4,900-P5,100.00 per sack by the original SL-8H hybrid rice seeds.
Reglos said that the sack’s labels, signs, prints, security seal and brochures except for the fake rice seeds inside the sack are very similar from the original sacks and brochures of the Agritech Corporation.
Farmer Judy Bacaycay, 54, of Barangay Camaal, Quirino, Isabela said that only last February after the flowering stage when he noticed that the grains on his rice field are smaller, some grains are empty and do not appear to be the same high yielding SL-8H.
Bacaycay bought 12 bags of fake SL-8H hybrid rice in November last year from a local dealer Jomar Carpio, which he planted in his six hectares riceland expecting to harvest at least 180 cavans per hectare.
“But I doubt harvesting 180 cavans per hectare this times since the plants did not grow well with empty grains,” Bacaycay said.
Another farmer, Leonardo Gaspar, 59, said that when he opened the seeds delivered to him last November packed with SL-8H sacks, he noticed that seeds were rounder with different color but he ignored it.
“Now that it is harvest time, I could see my rice plants not growing as expected. I also noticed that some have grains and yet very small and even empty,” Rolando Malenda, 34, also said.
A veteran farmer Vicente Sebastian, 78, of Santiago City who used to plant SL-8H hybrid rice seeds in his 2.8-hectare rice field said that he also executed a separate affidavit/complaint against one of the dealers who sold him fake SL-8H seeds.
Meanwhile, Delos Santos of DIJD Farm Supply and General Merchandise and his co-accused have denied having known that the rice seeds delivered to them for distribution were fake SL Agritech’s SL-8H super hybrid rice seeds.
Delos Santos said the hybrid rice seeds that they were selling were coming from Nueva Ecija which were delivered by a supplier whom later appeared to have misrepresented SL Agritech.
“Since the SL-8H seeds were coming from suppliers who claim themselves as employees of SL Agritech, we promoted the seeds as that of the hybrid rice seeds, but to our dismay, the seeds turned out to be fake,” Delos Santos said.
He said they have learned later that SL Agritech has remove some of their employees who were assigned in Cagayan Valley.
Delos Santos said he only came to know that he was scammed selling fake SL-8H rice seed when farmers noticed and found out that their rice plants were that of different and low-yielding mixed variety.