About 44,000 sacks of imported sugar, worth about P220 million, were seized from warehouses in Bulacan and Pampanga in separate raids yesterday, the Bureau of Customs said.
The raids were in accordance with the marching orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “to exercise visitorial powers to all customs bonded warehouses and to check on the inventory of imported agricultural products”.
Armed with a Letter of Authority and Mission Order issued by acting BOC Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz, joint operatives from the BOC, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture, and the Sugar Regulatory Administration, led by Negrense lawyer Guillermo Tejida III, SRA deputy administrator for Regulation, seized the sacks of imported sugar and other articles from the warehouses in San Fernando, Pampanga, and in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
The operations stemmed from the coordination of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service with the military intelligence. A certain Victor Teng Chua, the alleged owner of the warehouse in Bulacan, was invited for questioning due to lack of SRA permit, the BOC report showed, adding that “concerned government agencies are also verifying the possibility of large-scale hoarding of sugar by the owner of the warehouse”.
Ruiz assured the public that the BOC will be relentless in conducting operations against smuggling and in protecting legitimate trade. “Failure to present import documents and proof of payment of duties and taxes on the seized articles would cause the issuance of a Warrant of Seizure and Detention.”
The Office of the Press Secretary also said the warehouse in Pampanga was raided on suspicion of hoarding thousands of sacks of sugar amid consumer complaints on the high price of sugar in the market.
The raid was made on orders from Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez, acting on a directive from Marcos Jr….with the aim of finding out if there is hoarding of sugar.
“The BoC’s Pampanga sugar warehouse raid may very well serve as a warning to unscrupulous traders, who are currently hoarding their stocks of sugar in order to profit from the current artificial sugar shortage situation,” Rodriguez said.
He said his office is investigating reports that the importation of 300,000 metric tons of sugar was being pushed aggressively by certain traders, who intend to use it as a “cover” for them to release the sugar they had hoarded but couldn’t release as this would depress prices.
Reports reaching the Office of the Executive Secretary said such massive importation of sugar could result in windfall profits for the traders of at least P300 million, with a portion of the amount earmarked as lobby money. ||
