Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines鈥擜griculture Secretary Proceso Alcala called it a 鈥渂lessing鈥� that the suspected rice smuggler known by the name of David Tan has finally surfaced. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a blessing that what we have been saying all along about a 鈥楧avid Tan鈥� controlling聽 rice smuggling in the country is true,鈥� said Alcala.
Rosendo So, president of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) and Abono party-list founder, said: 鈥淲e look forward to seeing Davidson 鈥淒avid Tan鈥� Bangayan next week, January 22. The Senate has invited David Tan through the DOJ (Department of Justice),鈥� said So.
鈥淩ice traders, cooperatives and rice millers know him, he is the one selling smuggled rice. Let鈥檚 just wait when they face him in the hearing,鈥� said So.
While Bangayan profusely denied being enmeshed in rice smuggling when he appeared at the National Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday, both Alcala and So noted that Tan鈥檚 lawyer, Benito Salazar, was the same counsel of two rice importers 鈥擲tarcraft International Trading Corp. and Silent Royalty Marketing鈥攖hat have sued the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for putting on hold the release of P21 million worth of rice shipments at the Davao port for lack of an import permit.
鈥淗e (Bangayan) was accompanied by his lawyer Benito Salazar. He is probably the same Benito Salazar representing Starcraft and Silent Royalty,鈥� said So.
In a phone interview, Alcala said that Salazar has been doing the media rounds to villify the Department of Agrciulture and National Food Authority and force it to liberalize the importation of rice.
Alcala said: 鈥淗e (Salazar) is the same lawyer who is running after us (the DA and NFA) because we stopped his clients鈥� rice imports.鈥�
Salazar earlier argued that his clients would willingly pay the 50 percent duty on its rice imports but that the World Trade Organization (WTO), which governed global trading rules between nations including the Philippines, has already lifted quantitative restrictions on imports.
But Alcala stressed that he was just upholding the rule of law as the 18-year-old Agriculture Tarrification Act or Republic Act 1878, which imposed import restrictions on farm products, has not yet been voided by Congress. For as long as RA 1878 is in effect, Salazar鈥檚 clients have to obtain permits from the NFA before shipping rice into the country or else these shipments would be considered as smuggled and seized upon arrival, according to Alcala.
鈥淭hey have to respect the law.聽 These import restrictions are meant to protect our farmers. Are we for our farmers or foreign farmers? We have to protect our rice farmers because it is our goal to have self-sufficiency in the most consumed staple of Filipinos,鈥� said Alcala.
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