LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Benguet Caretaker Congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap challenged the administration of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to intensify their intelligence gathering to sustain the ongoing unrelenting and uncompromising campaign against the smuggling of vegetables from China to be able to prevent the smuggle vegetables from flooding the market for the benefit of the province’s vegetable industry.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, pointed out that aside from the enhanced intelligence gathering, the same must be coupled with aggressive anti-smuggling operations to prevent the smugglers from bringing into the country vegetables that are directly competing with locally produced ones.
The lawmaker requested the BOC to provide his office with a weekly update in the conduct of their anti-smuggling operations so he can update the concerned agriculture industry stakeholders in the province with proof that concerned government agencies are doing something to curb the smuggling of vegetables in the country.
He lauded the BOC for its latest accomplishment where over P17 million worth of smuggled vegetables such as carrots were confiscated in a warehouse in Caloocan City as will have an impact on the illegal activity of smugglers in trying to ship in the country various agricultural crops.
While it is true that the imported carrots from China are good looking, Congressman Yap asserted that it is still best for the people to buy the locally produced ones, especially those from Benguet, because they are juicier and fresh.
According to him, the imported vegetables from China might have some preservatives that make the same look good but in terms of taste, the same are not actually as delicious as the ones produced in Benguet, thus, instead of patronizing the imported carrots, people should buy the ones that come from the province.
Congressman Yap underscored that preventing the influx of smuggled vegetables in the country will definitely boost the income of the concerned agriculture industry stakeholders because the buying prices of the commodities will remain decent for them to be able to generate an income that can sustain their families’ needs.
He asserted that the BOC should be mindful that Benguet is the source of over 80 percent of the supply of semi-template vegetables that is why there is no more need to allow the unpermitted entry of imported agricultural crops, thus, the smuggling of vegetables should be stopped and for the agency to value the importance of protecting the interest of the agriculture industry stakeholders.
The Benguet Caretaker Congressman explained that the buying prices of locally produced vegetables will surely stabilize once the smuggling of agricultural crops is stopped and the updates from the agency are shared with stakeholders. By HENT
