MANILA – Malacañang confirmed on Monday that the alleged sugar shortage in the country is “artificial” and the result of hoarding by unscrupulous merchants.
This came after simultaneous operations were conducted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the Sugar Regulatory Administration, and the Department of Agriculture to inspect sugar warehouses in Deparo, Caloocan City; Balut in Tondo and San Nicolas in Manila; Rosales, Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Ibaan, Batangas, and Davao.
“The huge volume of sugar discovered by Customs agents in the various warehouses in Luzon has led Malacañang to conclude that the sugar shortage is artificial, brought about by the hoarding of sugar traders who wanted to rake-in huge profits from the sudden spike in sugar prices,” the Office of the President (OP) said in a press statement.
BOC operatives on Monday conducted a raid at a warehouse located at No. 306 Kabatuhan St. along Deparo Road in Caloocan City.
They also confiscated the repacking equipment that the warehouse owners were using to disguise the fact that imported rice and sugar were actually procured locally.
According to the OP, BOC agents served a letter of authority (LOA), which prompted the raid.
After the owners and caretakers refused to cooperate with their team, they exercised their visitorial power by forcibly opening the warehouse.
BOC operatives learned that the warehouse containing the contraband agricultural products is owned by Melissa Chua and Benito Chua. It was unclear how the two Chuas are related at the time.
The OP said this latest raid is among the efforts of the Marcos administration to step up its campaign against hoarders and profiteers to bring down the price of sugar.
BOC agents also inspected several warehouses in Luzon last week following intelligence reports that smuggled sugar and other agricultural products were being kept.
On Sunday, four warehouses in Guiguinto, Bulacan that were inspected by authorities yielded at least 60,000 bags of suspected hoarded sugar.
On Saturday, BOC operatives also visited four warehouses of T12 Polo Land located at Ilang-Ilang St. in Barangay Tabang, Guiguinto, Bulacan.
They found imported sugar from Thailand in the warehouses at 50 kilograms per sack. At least two of the warehouses were half-full while one warehouse have sacks of sugar neatly stacked up to the roof.
Subic Port customs personnel previously seized 140,000 bags of imported sugar from Thailand equivalent to 7,000 metric tons.
The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service has suspected that a “recycled permit” was used in the Subic Port.
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