ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Sandiganbayan junks graft charge vs ex-DA Sec Alcala on 'garlic cartel'

Sandiganbayan junks graft charge vs ex-DA Sec Alcala on 'garlic cartel'

Published Jan 9, 2026 12:53 pm  |  Updated Jan 9, 2026 01:41 pm
The Sandiganbayan has dismissed, for insufficiency of evidence, the graft charge filed against former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Proceso J. Alcala in the alleged manipulation of garlic prices through a cartel in 2010 to 2014.
In a resolution issued last Jan. 5, the anti-graft court’s fifth division granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Alcala.
A demurrer to evidence is a pleading filed by an accused in a criminal case to dismiss the charge on alleged weakness of the prosecution’s evidence. Its filing must be approved by the court and its grant is equivalent to an acquittal.
Alcala was charged together with Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Director Clarito Barron as well as BPI Division Chiefs Merle Palacpac and Luben Marasigan.
Also charged were garlic traders Lilia "Lea" Cruz, Edmond Caguinguin, Rolan Galvez, Rochelle Diaz, Ma. Jackilou Ilagan, Jon Dino De Vera, Napoleon Baldueza, Jose Ollegue, Laila Matabang, Angelita Flores, Gaudioso Diato, Denia Matabang, Jose Angulo, Jr., Raffy Torres, Mary Grace Sebastian, Renato Francisco, Rolando Manangan, Orestes Salon, Prudencio Ruedas and Shiela Marry Dela Cruz likewise face the same charge.
The court’s resolution tackled only the demurrer to evidence filed by Alcala.
Case records show that on July 24, 2013, Alcala created the National Garlic Action Team (NGAT) composed of individuals from the public and private sectors involved in the trading and growing of garlic.
Cruz was appointed as chairperson, which the prosecution said enabled her to have access to vital information. As a result, Cruz's group VIEVA secured most of the Import Permits (IPs), the prosecution alleged.
In his demurrer to evidence Alcala told the anti-graft court that there was no evidence that the issuance of the special order was intended to appoint Barron and Cruz as NGAT members and that her appointment enabled her group to obtain bulk of the import permits.
He also said that there was no evidence that he had prior knowledge of Cruz's alleged intention to use her NGAT membership to secure the permits, nor was he involved in issuing those.
In granting Alcala’s demurrer, the court said the prosecution failed to prove that he acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith, or gross inexcusable negligence in creating the NGAT and appointing Barron and Cruz.
At the same time, the court said it found the prosecution’s evidence lacking in terms of the acts of conspiracy committed by Alcala and his co-accused.
"The central issue in this case is the alleged manipulation of the garlic import market, particularly the disproportionate allocation of import permits to Cruz, VIEVA and its affiliates during the suspension period. Therefore, the court said, the prosecution needed to show that accused Alcala influenced or was complicit in the granting of permits to favored importers. “This the prosecution failed to do," the court said.
The 34-page resolution was written by Fifth Division Chairperson Associate Justice Zaldy V. Trespeses with the concurrence of Associate Justices Maryann E. Corpus-Manalac and Gener M. Gito.
In the criminal charge filed before the Sandiganbayan, the prosecution claimed that Alcala and his 23 co-accused were faulted for giving manifest partiality to PHILVIEVA, VIEVA, Tumana Trading, R.M. Galvez Agri Trading, Purple Moon Trading, Bee Jee Trading, Touch Down Trading, A.G.R. Trading, La Reina Food Trading, Yom Trading Corporation, KASAMNE, KBS, MAGRO-MPC, and Shelmarie Enterprises.
A total of 8,810 applications were granted IPs. Out of these, 5,022 were issued to PHILVIEVA, VIEVA, and VIEVA-affiliated importers despite the suspension of the issuance of IP from July 2012 to October 2013.
When NGAT found it necessary to allow the importation of 58,240 metric tons of garlic or the issuance of 1,165 IPs at 50 metric tons per clearance to satisfy the market requirement from November 2013 to March 2014, Alcala reportedly approved and referred NGAT resolutions to Barron, a member of NGAT, for appropriate action.
The prosecution alleged that because of their actions, Cruz was able to monopolize the supply of garlic allowing her to dictate the prices of garlic in the market.
By January to July 2014, the price of imported garlic soared, ranging from P260 to P400 per kilogram from its average price of P165 to P170 per kilogram in 2010 to 2013. The prices of native garlic ranged from P250 to P450 per kilogram from April to June 2014.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.