House quinta panel looks for rice cartels, smugglers
Metro Manila, Philippines — Five committees in the House of Representatives tried to fish out details from the agriculture department regarding rice smugglers and cartels in the country as lawmakers remain baffled on elevated prices of the grain.
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Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo asked Agriculture Assistant Secretary Carlos Carag point blank if there were cartels in the rice sector.
“It seems like there is, ma’am, and probably not just with rice… It seems like there are certain sectors and individuals who are actually manipulating prices,” Carag told the first hearing of the House quinta panel called “Murang Pagkain Super Committee” on Tuesday, Nov. 26.
Carag heads the agency’s inspectorate and enforcement office, a team formed in December 2022 to “curb agricultural smuggling and price manipulation as economic sabotage.”
He could not answer, however, on the methods of the supposed rice cartels.
“We’re still in the process of studying all the information that we can,” Carag said. “There's a policy, there are other departments to talk with, law enforcement departments also that we have to jibe all information.”
Early in the hearing, Carag said the DA has a “long list” of rice smugglers, but it was not presented to lawmakers. He also clarified that the agency has no enforcement powers.
Quimbo asked if smugglers were also the cartel operators. “I cannot say in definite terms,” the assistant secretary answered.
“The way I see it, smugglers smuggle, pero ‘yon ‘yong problema natin, Ma’am, eh, hindi naman bumababa ‘yong presyo [but that’s the problem, prices don’t go down], so definitely someone is taking advantage,” he said.
For his part, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who was a co-chairperson of the joint committee, directed the committee secretary to send letters to the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman asking if cases have been filed on those involved in the 2016-2018 rice price manipulation allegations.
Salceda also issued an order to summon all documents from the Philippine Competition Commission pertaining to all of its investigations and other deliberations regarding rice cartels.
