Agri chief Dar denies links to 'tongpats' scheme on pork imports

Agriculture Secretary William Dar on Monday denied involvement in the alleged scheme that would supposedly bring billions of pesos in kickbacks from increasing the volume of imported pork products and reducing tariff using the African swine fever problem as smokescreen.

"As regards to the alleged 'tongpats' of about P5 to P7 per kilo of imported pork, the present DA leadership categorically denies any involvement if such scheme indeed exists," Dar told a Senate inquiry.

"As far as the MAV allocation is concern, strict implementation and guidelines are in place to ensure a transparent and non-discretionary systematic procedure on the MAV (minimum access volume) allocation," he added.

In March, Senator Panfilo Lacson said there could be a syndicate within the Department of Agriculture that could possibly gain billions of pesos in "tongpats" (kickback) from the recommendation to reduce tariff rates as well as increase the MAV allocation on pork imports.

He said there have been reports of unscrupulous individuals padding the cost of imported pork from P5 to P7 per kilo.

Lacson claimed the illegal practice has been ongoing for several years already. —KBK, GMA News