Marcos appoints new BFAR director

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has appointed Elizer Salilig as permanent director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) after the ombudsman upheld the former chief’s dismissal.

Salilig replaced Demosthenes Escoto, dismissed over alleged irregularities in awarding a P2.1-billion contract for vessel monitoring system (VMS) transceivers to a British company in 2018.

The new BFAR director is a career official serving in the fisheries sector for over 34 years.

Starting as a fishery technician in Soccsksargen, Salilig had advanced to aquaculturist I and planning and budget officer overseeing the development and evaluation of key fisheries programs.

Salilig contributed to the implementation of the Fisheries Scholarship Program.

In 2016, Salilig was appointed regional director of the BFAR in Mimaropa.

During his tenure, he spearheaded the Tilapia Intensive Hatchery Production program to strengthen aquaculture production. Salilig also established the country’s first shrimp hatchery in Oriental Mindoro.

Salilig led the modernization of the regional office facility.

In an eight-page order, Ombudsman Samuel Martires dismissed the motions for reconsideration filed by Escoto, former agriculture undersecretary and BFAR national director Eduardo Gongona and British national Simon Tucker of SRT Marine Systems Solutions.

The defendants moved to reverse their graft indictment over alleged anomalies in the VMS project.

Escoto’s involvement in a scheme to favor SRT-France and SRT-UK – despite the former’s ineligibility to participate in the bidding process – established his probable guilt and liability, the ombudsman said.

The French embassy in the Philippines had declared SRT-France’s lack of qualifications due to the absence of manufacturing records or engineering facilities in France.

James Mier Victoriano had filed a complaint after the contract for BFAR’s Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System Project Phase II was awarded to SRT-UK.

Fewer farm imports

Meanwhile, constructing 99 cold storage facilities nationwide will lessen imported farm products as farmers can store their produce, according to peasants’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag).

Citing onion farmers’ experience last year, the group said red onions were not imported as the government saw there were stocks, with bulbs lasting until December.

“If we have more cold storage facilities, local farmers can compete. There is no need to import as cold storage facilities are full,” Sinag executive director Jayson Cainglet said yesterday in a radio interview.

A P3-billion initiative to construct 99 cold storage facilities nationwide will be rolled out by the Department of Agriculture.

With cold storage facilities, Cainglet said farmers can negotiate better prices without fear of vegetables possibly rotting.

“Middlemen cannot dictate prices as farmers would have the option to store their products until a better price is offered,” he said.

The facilities should be free and operated by farmers’ cooperatives, Cainglet said.

Farmers spend at least P300 per bag to avail themselves of cold storage facilities for six months, Cainglet noted.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the facilities would feature sustainable, cost-efficient designs powered by renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, alongside electricity from the grid.

Solve rice hoarding

President Marcos should create a national council to address rice smuggling, hoarding and profiteering in the country, a lawmaker said yesterday.

Despite tariff cuts and lower prices in the world market, rice has remained costly for Filipinos, Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones pointed out.

The proposed council, he said, would be comprised of the trade, finance and agriculture departments, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority.

The council shall formulate policies and form a law enforcement group against smugglers, hoarders and profiteers, he noted.

Despite the passage of the Anti-Economic Sabotage Act, no one has been punished yet, Briones said.

Under the law, he noted that agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering and engaging in a cartel are classified as economic sabotage, a non-bailable crime with a penalty of life imprisonment.

Twenty-one containers of smuggled frozen mackerel from China were seized last year by Customs officials at the Manila International Container Port, Briones recalled.

Charges were filed against importer Pacific Sealand Food Corp. A hold departure order must be issued against the owners, Briones said.