Senate panel report links Customs chief, several DA execs to agriculture smuggling

Customs Commissioner Rey Guerrero, several Customs and Agriculture officials were identified as alleged protectors and smugglers of agricultural products, according to a report of the Senate Committee of the Whole released on Monday.

The 63-page document on the investigation on the alleged proliferation of smuggled vegetables in the country was signed by 17 senators, a "24 Oras" report by Mav Gonzales said.

The report identified 22 persons linked to the alleged smuggling based on an intelligence report received by Senate President Vicente Sotto III on May 17, 2022 containing a "validated list" of persons purportedly involved in the illegal importation of agricultural products in the country.

They are:

-Bureau of Customs chief Rey Leonardo Guerrero
-Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Ariel Cayanan
-Customs Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Group Raniel Ramiro
-Customs Deputy Commissioner Vener Baquiran of Customs Revenue Collection Monitoring Group
-Director Geofrey Tacio of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service
-Atty. Yasser Abbas of Customs Import and Assessment.
-Bureau of Plant and Industry Director George Culaste
-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Director Eduardo Gongona
-Laarni Roxas of BPI Plant Quarantine Services Division Region 3
-Toby Tiangco who was tagged as "smuggling protector" of BFAR products
-Mayor Jun Diamante who was allegedly "playing" in port of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and Subic; and
-Gerry Teves who was said to be the "number one smuggler" of meat products "playing in major ports" such as Subic, Manila International Container Port, Port of Manila, Batangas and Cebu.

There are ten others listed among those allegedly involved in smuggling.

Denials

Several officials linked to the illegal acts issued denials to GMA News.

Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco said his detractors have involved him in the large-scale agricultural smuggling in the country to prevent him from apprehending the “true” smugglers.

“Sa mga nagdawit sa 'kin dyan o dun sa mga sindikato, kung sa tingin ninyo sa pagsubok nyo na sirain ang pangalan ko eh hihinto ako, hinding-hindi ako hihinto. Hinding-hindi ako hihinto na habulin kayong mga agricultural smuggler,” Tiangco said in a report on “24 Oras”.

(To those linking me to smuggling, including syndicates,  if you think ruining my name will make me stop, it won’t. I will not stop chasing agricultural smugglers.)

In a separate statement, Tiangco pointed out  that based on the Senate report, four cases were filed between 2016 and 2021 involving agricultural smuggling for which the Department of Justice found probable cause.

"It is ironic that I am identified as an alleged protector when two out of the total four cases in the whole Philippines with probable cause were filed by the city government of Navotas," the mayor added.

Slamming those behind the allegations, Culaste it was impossible to ask for bribe since transactions are now made online.

“‘Di na nga kami nagkikita niyang mga imported na ‘yan, manghihingi pa ako? Bakit sila magbibigay ng tara-tara eh online ko ina-approve, online sila nag-a-apply ng SPIC? Ever since na in-assign po ako rito sa BPI, wala po akong kahit even a single centavo na hiningi dito sa mga importer,” said Culaste.

(I don’t even see the importers, how can I ask money from them? Why would they give me that if they apply for the SPIC online and I approve it online too? Ever since I was assigned to the BPI, I never asked anything from importers, not even a single centavo.)

To recall, senators have questioned Culaste in one of their hearings after it was found he green-lighted the release of vegetable shipments of a cooperative despite failing the temperature requirement.

He, however, explained the cooperative submitted documents proving their shipments are in good condition.

Gongona said there should be a deeper investigation into the issue. Cayanan spoke to GMA News through a phone call where he said he is not worried about being named in the committee report because he "did not do anything wrong.”

“Let the three officials named in the report be given a chance to face their accusers, and defend themselves in the proper forum,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar said.

GMA News has reached out to the other concerned individuals for their side.

Recommendations

According to the report, the amount of technically smuggled agri-fishery commodities from 2019 to 2022 was estimated at P667.5 million. There were 31 smuggling cases which remain pending since May 28, 2021 with an estimated amount of P848.327 million.

The Senate panel found that smuggling is persistent due to the failure to fully digitalize the inspection processes as well as the lack of first border inspection.

Among the recommendations in the report are to strengthen and rationalize inter-agency coordination; allocate more resources to law enforcement agencies tasked to address smuggling;  agencies mandated to enforce the law should be subject to a more stringent disciplinary measure,' remove human intervention that provides avenue for negotiation by fully automating the trade transactions, among others.

The Committee of the Whole report was signed by Sotto, Senators Panfilo Lacson, Nancy Binay, Bong Go, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Imee Marcos, Grace Poe, Manny Pacquiao, Bong Revilla Jr., Francis Pangilinan, Joel Villanueva, Aquilino Pimentel III, Cynthia Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ralph Recto, and Franklin Drilon.—LDF/NB, GMA News