Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo, onions (Screenshot from Zoom, MANILA BULLETIN)

Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo ended the House Committee on Agriculture and Food's three-month inquiry on the agricultural hoarding issue by attempting to put faces on the alleged cartel that caused onion prices to skyrocket late last year.

Quimbo went straight to the point in her statement during the closing moments of the committee's five-hour hearing on Wednesday, May 17.

"At the core of my onion cartel theory is the Philippine VIEVA Group of Companies (PhilVIEVA), a fully vertically-integrated corporation, a SEC (Security and Exchange Commission)-registered corporation established in 2013," she said.

"Its incorporators are corporations that are involved in local trading, importation, cold storage warehousing, and trucking. Its majority owner who appears to be Lilia or Leah Cruz also described the corporation as involved in the 'farming of vegetables'."

Cruz, known as the "Sibuyas Queen", has been the focal person throughout the panel hearings that began in February. Quimbo described her as the "bossing" or boss of the entire set-up.

"Sa madaling salita, hawak sa leeg ng PhilVIEVA ang BUONG supply chain mula UMPISA which is farming hanggang DULO which is retail (In simpler terms, PhilVIEVA holds by the neck the ENTIRE supply chain from the BEGINNING, which is farming ;until the END, which is retail)," Quimbo said, the emphasis hers.

Prices of onion surged to over P700 a kilo in December. This prompted House Speaker Martin Romualdez to call for an investigation on the issue, in aid of legislation.

The panel discussions initially focused on hoarding, but it soon spilled over to price manipulation aftet it was uncovered that the alleged cartel members controlled everything from cold storage facilities (where produce like onions and garlic are kept) and trucking firms.

Quimbo said she found "links implied by the General Information Sheets (GIS) of each of the incorporators of PhilVIEVA".

"Dahil sa PhilVIEVA at ilang dummy companies, kayang kaya ni Leah Cruz i-dikta ang magiging presyo ng sibuyas sa merkado at kung saan niya nais magbagsak ng supply, kung saan man whether sa Divisoria man o sa supermarkets (Because of PhilVEVA and some dummy companies, Leah Cruz has the power to dictate what the onion prices will be in the market and where she wants to deliver supply to, be it in Divisoria or in supermarkets)."

According to the economist-solon, it is Cruz who is listed as the principal owner of trucking firm Golden Shine. Golden Shine is a stockholder of PhilVIEVA.

She said Eric Pabilona, who only has a 2.96 percent share in PhilVIEVA, was the largest stockholder of Tian Long, one of the biggest cold storages for onions. Tian Long has a 7.04 percent share in PhilVIEVA.

"Si Pabilona din ay stockholder ng Golden Shine trucking business ni Ms. Leah Cruz (Pabilona is also a stockholder of Ms. Leah Cruz's trucking business).

On the other hand, Quimbo said Renato Francisco was the biggest stockholder of Yom Trading and La Reina--two of the biggest importers of onions. Francisco, like Pabilona, also has a 2.96 percent share in PhilVIEVA.

"Bukod sa PhilVIEVA, mayroon ding dalawang kompanya na hawak din ni Leah Cruz na malaki rin ang partisipasyon sa industriya ng sibuyas (Aside from PhilVIEVA, Leah Cruz controls two more companies that have huge participation in the onion industry)," the lawmaker from Marikina said.

Quimbo said that based on the committee hearings, the Leah Cruz group accounts for 68 percent of all total imports for yellow onions and 50 percent for red onions.

Panel chairman and Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga told House reporters after hearing that he feels they've gathered enough information to conclude the hearings.

The House will adjourn sine die on June 2, marking the end of the first regular session of the 19th Congress.