House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate wants the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to look into the Department of Agriculture's (DA) alleged pro-important policy for what he described as "economic sabotage".

"Ito talaga ang naging trend na ngayon, puro na lang importasyon. Kahit na sinasabi ng ating local producers na may sapat na supply ay tuloy-tuloy pa rin itong importasyon (This is really the trend right now, it's all about important. Importation is continuous even if our local producers are saying that theire is enough supply)," Zarate told House reporters in a virtual press conference Friday, Feb. 18.

He cited the Sugar Regulatory Administration's recent Sugar Order No.3, which allowed the importation of 200,000 metric tons of sugar into the Philippines, as part of this worrisome trend. The administration is an attached agency of the DA.

"Ang tinatamaan nito ay ang mga local producers. Kaya nananawagan na tayo sa Office of the Ombudsman or even the through the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) na imbestigahan ito (It's the local producers who are suffering from this. That's why we're appealing to the Office of the Ombudsman or even the DOJ through the NBI to investigate this)," said Zarate, a lawyer.

"This is tantamount also sa tingjn namin (in our opinion) to an economic sabotage. Sinasabotahe ang ating lokal na industriya (Our local industries are being sabotaged)," he claimed.

He said the sugar importation directive comes at time when government should help local industries get back on their feet after getting floored by the effects of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

He noted that the DA has had similar directives on the importation of pork and galunggong (round scad), which have hurt local stakeholders, amid the ongoing health crisis.

Pointing to the sugar importation order, Zarate said there's a study claiming that the livelihood of one farmer would be affected for every importation of five tons of sugar.

"Halimbawa nasa 200,000 metric tons yan, humigit-kumulang siguro 50,000 farmers ang affected niyan, at 100,000 farm workers including their families (If it's 200,000 metric tons, more or less 50,000 farmers will be affected, along with 100,000 farm workers including their families)," he said.

The House leader calculated that the sugar importation would lead to P2 billion in total losses.

Zarate also slammed authorities for using the destruction caused by typhoon "Odette" last December as a justification for the sugar importation order.

He said the sugarcane planters of Negros Occidental said themselves that they weren't totally devastated by Odette, thus they can still produce sugar.