7 people charged for smuggling onions, peking ducks

MANILA -- Five traders and two licensed brokers were charged before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday in connection with the unlawful importation of onions and peking ducks worth P18 million in separate occasions.

Charged were Rady Garbosa, owner of RSG Marketing, together with his import manager and broker, Adonis Andilab and Jucylita Garcia, respectively; Jaime Martinez, owner of Reachable Enterprises and broker Janet Jackelou Cariga; and Estelito Mallari and Gary Madugnon, the consignee and shipper of a shipment from Cagayan de Oro City.

Garbosa is facing two counts of smuggling for importing last May P8 million worth of peking ducks, which has since been banned due to bird flu risks and P2 million worth of onions which arrived in July.

Martinez and Cariga, on the other hand, failed to secure import permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry for the P4-million onions. These were instead declared as umbrellas, office supplies, lamps and parts and plastic ware.

For their part, Mallari and Madugnon made it appear that the 2X40 container vans from Cagayan de Oro are locally-produced tomatoes but when apprehended last July, it was found out that these are imported onions worth P4 million.

They were charged for violating Section 3601 Tariff and Customs Code, Department Orders of the Department of Agriculture and Article 172 of the Revised Penal Code.

“These attempts to bring into the country illegally imported onions are not intended to fill in a demand or shortage, but simply, to exploit the high demand for the crop, to the detriment, of course, of our local farmers,” Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said. (Virgil Lopez/FP/Sunnex)