Romualdez has message for 'evil hoarders'
House Speaker Martin Romualdez renewed his warning to the hoarders of agricultural products to stop their "evil" deeds once and for all.
"I reiterate my warning to these evil hoarders and unscrupulous businessmen. We are breathing down your necks. Tuldukan na ninyo na ang inyong mga gawain na nagpapahirap sa ating mga kababayan (Cease your activities that do nothing but burden our citizenry)," Romualdez said in a statement Wednesday, Feb. 22.
The Leyte 1st district congressman gave these remarks as he hailed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and other law enforcement agencies for their recent discovery of around P150 million worth of imported onions and garlic stored in 24 separate locations--many of them warehouses--in the cities of Manila and Malabon.
Romualdez thanked the law enforcers for heeding his personal call to raid warehouses that were suspected of hoarding onions and garlic.
Earlier, the Speaker asked the House Committee on Agriculture and Food to conduct an inquiry on the alleged hoarding of agricultural products, particularly onions, which has undergone an absurd price spike in recent months.
“Ito (hoarding) ang nagpapahirap sa taong-bayan na dahilan ng inflation at pagtaas sa presyo ng mga bilihin (This burdens the citizenry and is the reason for inflation, which in turn triggers price increases.
Referring to the raid launched by the law enforcement agents, Romualdez said: “Inaasahan natin na magtutuloy-tuloy ang kampanyang ito laban sa mga mapagsamantala (We expect this campaign against abusive hoarders to continue).”
Elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service-Manila International Container Port (CIIS-MICP) raided the warehouses holding the imported onions and garlic.
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The agriculture and food panel chaired by Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga has linked the recent spikes in the price of onion and garlic to unscrupulous traders who are hoarding such products to create an artificial supply shortage.
In its latest hearing, the committee learned that this artificial shortage is sometimes used as an excuse to facilitate the importation of onions, which further hurt local farmers.