Villar wants Bangayan charged with economic sabotage

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Cynthia Villar said yesterday that charges of economic sabotage should be filed against alleged rice smuggling king David Bangayan also known as David Tan.

“Economic sabotage would have been a heavier case with stiffer penalties. It’s about time we enact a law stating that rice smuggling constitutes economic sabotage. We need harsher penalties for this act,” Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, said.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has recommended that Bangayan be charged with bid-fixing under Republic Act 9184, the Government Procurement Reform Act and monopoly in restraint of trade under the Revised Penal Code.

Villar noted that the penalty for monopoly is imprisonment of six months to two years or a fine of P200 to P6,000.

“The penalties provided in the law are too light and won’t serve as deterrent to these acts,” she said.

The NBI also recommended that rice traders Judilyne Lim, Elizabeth Faustino, Eleanor Rodriguez and Leah Echeveria be investigated for the same charges.

A separate complaint against former National Food Authority administrator Angelito Banayo and other government officials will be filed with the Office of the Ombudsman.

During the Senate investigation on rice smuggling, the committee was able to unearth a modus operandi where rice traders use farmer cooperatives as dummies in rice importation, effectively cornering the supply of imported rice in the market.

“When the scheme where farmer cooperatives were given importation permits was formulated, the intention was to let our farmers gain from importation,” Villar said.

“With this modus, rice traders took advantage of the farmers and only enriched themselves,” she added.

The senator vowed to monitor the development in the cases filed against the suspected rice smugglers.

“We are hoping the government-to-government scheme in importing rice will finally put an end to smuggling,” Villar said.

“However, we hope the cases filed against the suspected smugglers will be resolved the soonest time possible in order to show the government’s commitment to stop smuggling.”