Customs discovers huge sugar haul in Pampanga
Published on: Friday, August 19, 2022
By: ABS CBN News
Thousands of sacks of suspected smuggled sugar were discovered inside a warehouse in San Fernando City, Pampanga.
MANILA: Thousands of sacks of suspected smuggled sugar from Thailand were discovered Thursday in a warehouse in Pampanga, on orders of Malacanang amid complaints of high prices of the commodity.Aside from those found inside the Lison Building in Barangay Del Pilar, San Fernando City, there were also hundreds of sacks already loaded in delivery vans, the Office of the Press Secretary said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bureau of Customs personnel, who were assisted by barangay officials and the local police during the operation, also found sacks of corn starch from China, sacks of imported flour, plastic products, oil in plastic barrels, motorcycle parts and wheels of different brands, helmets, LED Televisions sets and paints.
A Chinese-Filipino warehouse keeper already received the letter of authority and mission order from the BOC. The warehouse owner was given 15 days to present proof that the items were legally imported.
The OPS said the raid was authorised by Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez on orders of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to determine if there is hoarding of sugar in the country.
“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 was quoted in the OPS statement to have said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rodriguez’s office is reportedly looking into reports that the botched importation order of the 300,000 metric tons of sugar was “being pushed aggressively by certain traders,” the OPS said.
“[These traders] intend to use it (importation order) as a “cover” for them to release the sugar they had hoarded but couldn’t release as this would depress prices,” the statement read.
ADVERTISEMENT
If the sacks of sugar discovered Thursday morning were proven to be smuggled in the country, the warehouse owners may face charges in connection with the Customs Modernization Act (CMTA), the OPS said.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles confirmed to Palace reporters that another warehouse around Bulacan was also raided following the order from Rodriguez.
“This is a series of raids... Di ako sure kung tapos na yung pag-inspect ng BOC. But we can confirm that there is another one today and possibly more in the coming days,” said Cruz-Angeles.
The raid came days after officials from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) approved an unauthorised order for sugar imports supposedly to address the country’s sugar woes, as prices of refined sugar reached P100/kilo in wet markets.
Malacañang had said that Marcos, who temporarily heads the agriculture portfolio, did not approve such order for the importation of 300,000 MT of sugar. It described the SRA’s act as “illegal.”
The controversy prompted the resignation of Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian last week as he admitted to the lapses he made over the signing the document on behalf of Marcos.
This week, SRA administrator Hermenegildo Serafica and SRA board member Roland Beltran also tendered their resignations following the controversy.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
