Malacañang urges filing of case vs BOC, DA ‘agri-smuggling coddlers’

• Charge before the Ombudsman government officials and individuals named in a Senate report as alleged protectors and smugglers of agricultural products, Malacañang urges

• The alleged rogue Customs and Agriculture officials are among those linked to agricultural smuggling by a Senate Committee of the Whole report released on June 27

• The accused officials and politicians have denied the allegations in separate statements

Malacañang has urged the filing of cases against government officials and individuals identified in a Senate report as alleged protectors and smugglers of agricultural products.

“We are one with the Senate in fighting corruption in the bureaucracy. File the necessary charges before the Office of the Ombudsman so officials and persons mentioned in the Senate report could be afforded due process, face their accusers, and have their day in court,” the Palace statement released on June 28 said.

The statement was in reaction to the 63-page Senate Committee of the Whole report released on June 27 that lists officials, including those in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and Department of Agriculture (DA), allegedly linked to agricultural smuggling.

The list was based on a “validated list” that the Senate Committee of the Whole chairman and Senate president, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, received on May 17. Sotto said he has provided President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. a copy of the list, hoping that he would help eradicate corruption in the DA, which Marcos will head temporarily.

The report said the amount of smuggled agri-fishery commodities from 2019 to 2022 was estimated at P667.5 million.

Identified on the list, among others, are:

• Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero
• Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan
• BOC Intelligence Group deputy commissioner Raniel Ramiro
• BOC Revenue Collection Monitoring Group deputy commissioner Vener Baquiran
• Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service director Geofrey Tacio
• BOC Import and Assessment Service director Yasser Ismail Abbas
• Bureau of Plant and Industry (BPI) director George Culaste
• Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) director Eduardo Gongona
• BPI Plant Quarantine Services Division Region 3 regional manager Laarni Roxas
• Navotas Mayor Tobias “Toby” Tiangco, who was tagged as “smuggling protector” of BFAR products
• Tuburan, Cebu vice mayor and incoming mayor Democrito “Aljun” Diamante, who was allegedly “playing” in the ports of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and Subic
• Gerry Teves, who was named as the “number one smuggler” of meat products “playing in major ports” such as Subic, Manila International Container Port, Port of Manila, Batangas and Cebu

The implicated government officials and politicians have issued separate statements denying the allegations.

BOC’s Guerrero in a statement said he “vehemently deny the accusations against me on my alleged involvement in agricultural smuggling based on a supposed ‘validated’ list.”

“Law enforcement agencies such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine National Police denied the release or submission of any intelligence report from their respective agencies allegedly implicating any BOC official in any smuggling activity,” Guerrero added.

As part of the BOC’s anti-smuggling activities, Guerrero said the agency allowed representatives from the DA to take part in the non-intrusive inspection of containers to ensure full transparency in the examination of agricultural products.

READ: DA, BOC adopt new measures to curb agri products smuggling

“We firmly denounce fraudulent importations of agricultural products. The BOC remains committed to its mandate of securing the country’s borders against the entry of smuggled agricultural products and other illicit goods,” Guerrero said.

Outgoing DA Secretary William Dar said officials tagged as smugglers of agricultural products in the Senate report must “be given a chance to face their accusers and defend themselves in the proper forum.”

Findings of the report include the following:

• The amount of technically smuggled agri-fishery commodities from 2019 to 2022 was estimated at P667.5 million.
• There were also 31 smuggling cases pending since May 28, 2021, with an estimated amount of P848.327 million.
• There are discrepancies in the United Nations Comtrade Report and the BOC/Bureau of Animal Industry data
• Discrepancies in HS Code Classification are one means of misdeclaration to smuggle rice imports
• Smuggling due to failure of fully digitalizing inspection processes
• Lack of first border inspection as one of the primary problems that contribute to the consummation of smuggling

Recommendations moving forward include executive and legislative actions, such as strengthening and rationalizing inter-agency collaboration, removing human intervention by fully digitalizing/automating trade transactions, requiring pre-shipment inspection of all agricultural products, and institutionalizing a Sub-Task Force of Economic Intelligence.