Dummies for importers bared in Senate hearing
Cases of “consignees-for-hire” resurfaced at a Senate hearing on Monday as alleged importers of smuggled agricultural products claimed ignorance or admitted to leasing out their licenses for a fee.
Questioned by Senate committee on agriculture chair Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan about his company’s involvement in the importation of vegetables and frozen fish, Dexter Juala replied, “Sir, I don’t know anything about that.”
Juala was listed as the owner of EPCB Consumer Goods Trading, which Pangilinan tagged in the committee’s first hearing last month as one of the firms suspected of smuggling and hoarding agricultural products.
“You are the one listed here as the importer or consignee, so who talked to you about making you the importer and consignee?” Pangilinan asked.
Juala pointed to his uncle, Erwin Pascual. “I only remember, sir, that he took my ID and then registered it at the pier. That’s all I can recall,” he said when asked about the real owner of EPCB.
Asked about his work, Juala told Pangilinan: “I’m a rider, sir—for FoodPanda.”
Misrepresentation
Sen. Erwin Tulfo then moved to subpoena the firm’s real owner to compel his attendance at the next hearing, but the committee decided to send him an invite first.
“How can you believe that he is the owner? It’s just like our flood control projects—random people claiming ownership of [construction companies] when they really aren’t the true owners. What’s happening now is a case of misrepresentation,” Tulfo said.
In the same hearing, Jovelyn Berches Daria initially claimed to be the owner of Berches Consumer Goods Trading, which had also been tagged by Pangilinan in the previous hearing as a firm suspected of smuggling agricultural products.
Daria, who said they started their business almost two years ago, admitted to leasing out their license for a fee.
Asked by Pangilinan how many times they have brought in imports, Daria said she was not sure because it depended on their broker.
“Why does it depend on the broker? Shouldn’t it be your responsibility?” the senator commented to which she replied, “We just earn a commission. Basically, we’re just renting out our [license].”
“So it’s similar to flood control, right? Does that mean you’re not the ones actually paying or importing?” Pangilinan asked.
“No, sir,” answered Daria, who identified one of their brokers as John Cyril Mapa Imperial.
Clueless
However, Imperial, whom Pangilinan had earlier identified as a customers broker for the firm, denied knowing Berches or its owners and employees, saying he was, in fact, clueless why he was at the hearing.
Imperial admitted that he is a broker but for other companies in Metro Manila.
“No, sir. I don’t know either why I’m here, Mr. Chair. Actually, I’m supposed to be working right now,” he said.
Daria’s companion, Brenda de Sagun, was later called to the hearing and explained that Berches only receives shipments from clients.
“Since no shipments were arriving, we decided to rent it out,” she told the committee.
According to Daria, she only signs the papers and receives P500 for every container.
Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno said a total of 24 containers carrying agricultural products were listed under Berches, but only 19 were flagged by the Department of Agriculture.
The estimated value of the contents of the 19 containers was pegged at P59 million, according to Agriculture Undersecretary Carlos Carag.
Pangilinan then asked Daria if she was aware of the value of what they imported, but the latter answered in the negative.
“Well, it’s clear that they are not the importer. They are just dummies,” the senator said.
Citing what he heard during the hearing, Nepomuceno said these were “clear cases of consignees being hired or consignees-for-hire cases wherein the consignees would allow their corporations to be used by importers.”
He also vowed to address the matter. In the first hearing, Pangilinan had asked authorities to arrest and file charges against the individuals and firms he had named for violating the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.
