De Lima: Court papers, witnesses say Bangayan is David Tan

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday reiterated the stand of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that businessman Davidson Bangayan and alleged rice smuggling king David Tan are just the same person.

Speaking at the hearing of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, De Lima showed documents submitted by Federation of the Philippine Industry (FPI) president Jesus Arranza which showed that Bangayan admitted that he uses the alias of the alleged rice smuggling king.

De Lima said one of the documents was an affidavit executed by Bangayan in April 2005 in a libel case that he filed against Arranza and three or four others.

The Justice chief quoted Davidson in his supposed affidavit as saying: "Clearly, the foregoing publication categorically imputed to me and our company, Advanced Scraps Specialists Corp., the following wrongful acts, namely, swindling and contraband shipment. Likewise, the identification of the person in the subject publication definitely referred to me, considering that there is no other person by the name Davidson Banagyan a.k.a. David Tan. There is no question that I was clearly and directly identified in the subject publication."

De Lima also showed a document attached by Bangayan in his affidavit, which was a certification issued by a company identified as Taylor Overseas Marketing Limited.

The document said that "Advanced Scraps Specialists Corp. headed by Davidson Bangayan, a.k.a David Tan, has been supplying our company for the last two years of scrap metals."

"Malinaw po 'yung admission niya dito na siya si David Tan," De Lima said.

She said the NBI has also gathered sworn statements from two witnesses, one of whom refer to Bangayan as "DT."

"Sabi po nila, Davidson Bangayan is David Tan," De Lima said.

Modus operandi

De Lima said the witnesses also revealed the schemes of the alleged rice smuggling king.

Among the most recently concealed schemes was the misdeclaration of shipment of some traders.

“Ang pagkaalam po niya, ang mga parating na bigas ay deklerado nila, hardware, construction materials, cements, plywood. Pero ang totoo nito, mga bigas ho pala,” De Lima said.

Another smuggling scheme, De Lima said, was the “recycling” of import permits, wherein traders are able to use their permits over and over again since they do not give pre-arrival notices to the National Food Authority (NFA).

De Lima said one more smuggling scheme is when the rice shipments arrived on the ports in overquantity. The traders will then divert their deliveries to other warehouses aside from those controlled by the government.

"Kung sakaling 10 truckload ng bigas ang ide-deliver sa NFA, 'yung lima daw po ide-deliver sa NFA warehouse. The other five, ay kung sino na ang nakabili ng nasabing truckload ng bigas," De Lima said.

Bangayan denies

During the hearing, senators grilled Bangayan but he only gave negative answers when asked if he was the rice smuggling king.

"My name is Davidson Bangayan. I'm not David Tan," he said in one instance.

The businessman's repeated denial irked Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, who claimed that he also has "court documents" against Bangayan.

Enrile claimed that in an arbitration case in Singapore, the businessman also stated that he used the alias "David Tan."