Smugglers also behind hoarding, group says

DAVAO CITY—An umbrella agriculture industry group said the Supreme Court decision that stopped the enforcement of a local court’s order for the release of a shipment of smuggled rice here was a step in the right direction to curb the continued smuggling of rice.

Rosendo So, who heads the group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) which filed the case at the high court, said the ruling would “bolster the government’s campaign against rice smuggling.”

So, however, said more should be done to put a stop to the smuggling of rice and the activities of those behind it.

“These smugglers are not just evading tax payment. They are also manipulating the price of domestically produced rice,” he said in a statement.

“They buy local rice, hoard it, and then sell it at a higher price. They are acting like a cartel in manipulating the price of rice,” he added.

So urged the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Food Authority and the Bureau of Customs to step up the fight against rice smugglers.

“There should really be an active campaign against these smugglers because they are killing our local farmers,” he said.

Davao Port’s Customs collector Ernesto Aradanas said he would issue a statement on the Supreme Court’s ruling when he gets a copy of it.

The high court stopped the enforcement of an order issued by Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 16 Judge Emmanuel Carpio, which prevented the customs bureau from seizing a shipment of rice brought in by Starcraft International, a company identified with Davidson Bangayan aka “David Tan.”

Aradanas, a former army brigadier general, has taken over the post of the new district collector here after the acting district collector Datu Samson Pacasum and deputy district collector Edward James Dy Buco were reassigned following the court-ordered release of the rice shipment of Starcraft.

The change of faces at the customs bureau here, however, did not lead to the promised transparency as media men were still barred from entering its compound beyond its gates. In the past, media men were allowed to go up to the customs office’s stairway but not inside the collector’s office on the second floor.

Samuel Bomulo, customs policeman, said the directive was issued by the new district collector.

Fatima Espino, customs computer operator, told the INQUIRER that the district collector would answer media questions only in press conferences scheduled once amonth.

So said the Supreme Court ruling affirmed the power of the customs bureau over rice shipments.