Sen. Risa Hontiveros has identified three companies in the shipment of 440,000 metric tons of imported sugar, which she branded as “smuggled” since the shipment was not covered by any sugar order.
The sugar imports arrived at the Batangas port on February 15, before Sugar Order (SO) No. 6 was signed.
“It is clear that this importation was not covered by SO No. 6 and is not even covered by the past sugar orders,” she said, adding that the shipment of imported sugar is thus “smuggled.”
In a media briefing, Hontiveros named the companies as All Asian Countertrade, Sucden Philippines Inc. and Edison Lee Marketing Corporation.
However, she did not name which among these sugar importers was flagged down earlier on another government sugar importation issue.
Hontiveros said that based on the information she got from producer organizations and independent sources, 260 20-foot containers imported by All-Asian Countertrade Inc. arrived in the country from Thailand on February 9.
According to Hontiveros, SO6 should have been signed first and once published, the award of allocation should be given to importers.
She said if the timeline will be followed, the imported sugar should arrive March 1, and that’s “not considering the transport time.”
The senator also showed a draft undated memorandum order which indicated that the importers are to be given allocations even before the issuance of the said sugar order.
She also showed a letter signed by DA Usec. Domingo Panganiban upon the order of Executive Sec. Lucas Bersamin giving 240,000 metric tons allocation to All Asian Countertrade January 13.
She questioned if this letter was legitimate. “I hope it’s not because if this is true, this will be government-sponsored smuggling,” she said.
She also decried the indiscriminate importation of sugar, noting that the shipment of All Asian Countertrade entered the country through the Bureau of Custom’s VIP lane.
The use of the VIP lane ensures that papers can be processed within just two weeks. Except in the case of a misdeclaration, she said the BOC should have known that the shipment was sugar, which being classified as “agricultural product,” cannot pass the super green lane.
According to Hontiveros, she also has information that another shipment for All Asian Countertrade arrived this weekend. The shipment has remained inside a ship.