Smuggling continues under Duterte, says group

The smuggling into the Philippines of agricultural commodities has not abated even with a new administration, suggesting that smugglers are not as afraid of President Duterte as are drug traffickers, according to the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag).

Sinag chair Rosendo So Monday lamented the apparent lack of zeal against smuggling, as the Bureau of Customs holds 87 containers with a total of 2.6 million kilos of smuggled garlic and onions from China.

The umbrella group estimates the contraband’s value at P130 million, which would have meant P40 million in tax revenues for the government.

“If drug lords are now afraid of Duterte, smugglers —it seems—are not,” So told the Inquirer, “The continuous proliferation of smuggled agricultural products show they do not fear President Digong.”

Citing a BOC memo dated July 20, So said the consignees have abandoned the 87 containers from China, claiming that the shipments were already in a state of decomposition.

“We urge the BOC to file charges against the consignees/importers and all those found involved under Republic Act No. 10845, which declares the smuggling of agricultural goods as economic sabotage, said So, “This is the first litmus test of the President’s drive to end smuggling.”

Last June, Sinag said the volume of smuggled agricultural produce like onions, garlic and carrots surged in 2015 compared to 2014, resulting in about P3.7 billion lost revenue for the government.

Citing discrepancies between United Nations data—with countries reporting shipments bound for the Philippines—and Philippine agency’s monitoring of inbound cargo, the umbrella group said smuggled onions alone may have ballooned sixfold.

Based on information from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade), China, India, The Netherlands, the United States and Hong Kong shipped a total of 49.3 million kilos.

However, the Philippine government counted only about 31 million kilos.

Back then, So said the difference of 18.3 million kilos could only mean such volume as brought in illegally.

Also, UN data show China sent 138 million kilos of garlic in 2015, but the Philippines monitored only 23.6 million kilos—a difference of 114.4 million kilos.

Sinag said the numbers meant the smuggled volume of onions surged six times from 2.7 million kilos, and garlic four times from 40 million kilos, in 2014.