Octopus approach to enforcement

Last July 5, Kasamne farmers expressed their frustration over rampant onion smuggling in the country.

They first talked to newspaper reporters to explain how the government had once again let them down, then they met with Customs Commissioner Angelito Alvarez to ask for his immediate action.

Alvarez did agree to put four warehouses under surveillance, but he had reservations about apprehending retailers selling the smuggled onions.

I believe Commissioner Alvarez should reconsider his position and look at the “octopus approach” to enforcement as a way to curb smuggling.

Substandard products

When I joined the Cory Aquino government as Trade undersecretary, I discovered that several companies producing substandard steel were operating with impunity. They used all forms of resistance, including attempted bribes and death threats. It got so serious that I was given six bodyguards from the elite Presidential Security Guard (PSG) because some military personnel were involved.

The question then was how we can catch the “big fish” – or the manufacturers – instead of just the retailers. We arrived at the “octopus approach.”

The head of the octopus was likened to the manufacturer, and the tentacles were the retailers. If you get just the tentacles, the head will continue to exist, and just grow more tentacles.

So we went straight to broadcast media and asked consumers to submit directly to us substandard steel bars from retailers. Using that evidence, we were able to close down 17 of the 28 existing companies.

As a matter of fact, five of the companies voluntarily surrendered themselves because they knew that if DTI caught them, their names would be in the newspapers, their reputation tarnished, and their credit lines withdrawn.

A similar method was used to stop the proliferation of substandard electrical products. In the law, one cannot stop a company from producing substandard products unless it can be proven that its products are actually being sold.

Since we could not get the head unless we initially got to the tentacles (the retailers), we had to catch the retailers first. With the proof from them, we were able to charge the manufacturer.

Smuggled onions

Now we come to the onions. In the July 5 meeting at the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Kasamne leaders thanked Commissioner Alvarez for acting swiftly on their complaint concerning smuggled onions that came in on May 25. However, more onions continue to flood the Divisoria market.

During the three-month review of the Agriculture and Fisheries 2025 (AF 2025) conference convened by Senator Francis Pangilinan, Rep. Mark Mendoza, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, and the private sector, Kasamne spokesman Rodolfo Niones strongly disputed a Department of Agriculture (DA) official’s claim that onion smuggling had stopped.

Kasamne chairman Armand de Guzman said, “Since the May 25 raid, 20 to 25 container vans with smuggled onions have been arriving weekly. They sell at P24/kilo, compared to our breakeven warehouse price of P40/kilo. If this smuggling is not stopped, all of the DA assistance will be useless. 150,000 onion farmers from Central Luzon, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan and Mindoro are currently suffering from this smuggling.”

Recommendation

We recommend that Alvarez reconsider his initial stand of not catching retailers. He should instead use the octopus approach to enforcement. Though he caught one head in Bulacan last May 26, many other heads exist. Even more tentacles continue to operate using other heads that the BoC cannot even identify. Catch the tentacles who are in plain sight, and they will lead you to the heads. In addition, these retailers will tell the smugglers they can no longer sell the smuggled onions. The smuggling will then, hopefully, stop.

Disappointingly, all the previous raids in Divisoria did not result in any retailer being charged. Since there have been no raids in the last four months, and the raids did not result in any charges anyway, smuggling has flourished.

Niones believes that employing the octopus approach is more effective than relying solely on surveillance of the warehouses, which may even result in false reports. We recommend that BoC, as well as other government agencies like DA, DTI and DENR, implement this approach so that the “big fish” can finally be caught and stopped.

The author is chairman of Agriwatch, former secretary for presidential flagship programs and projects, and former undersecretary for Agriculture, and Trade and Industry. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail [email protected] or telefax (02) 8522112.