The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has formally recommended complaints to be filed against six individuals who are allegedly involved in onion smuggling and profiteering before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin 'Boying' Remulla confirmed the filing during a press briefing on Monday, September 18.
"Ito'y isa pa lang sa mga kasong fina-file at dine-develop ng DOJ. There will be other cases that will be filed by the DOJ up to the point of economic sabotage kapag natapos namin yun mga facts," he told reporters.
When asked about the identities of the six individuals allegedly involved, Remulla said some were government officials.
"Sa tingin natin, sila ay lumalabas na may sala sa pagkakataong ito. Ito ay simula pa lang, marami pang ifa-file, tuloy-tuloy ang imbestigasyon," he added.
Meanwhile, DOJ undersecretary Geronimo Sy explained that the complaints stemmed from the 8,000 bags of onion sold by a private company to the Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) in December last year.
He recounted that last year, the private company claimed that it had no stocks of onion available for retail.
"Pero no'ng kinontrata ng ₱500 plus, nagkakaroon ng stocks. Profiteeting because ang farm gate prices ng onion, 'yung cost of production is from ₱8 to ₱15 pesos lang para magbenta ng ₱537 per bag," Sy added.
According to the DOJ undersecretary, investigation showed that there was an alliance between government officials to falsify procurement documents for onion.
"The way they did it, yung modus ay ginagawang tinatawag na procurement. Nag-submit ng tatlong bids 'no? But actually sa tatlong bids, isa lang actually isa lang talaga ang bidder. Two other bids are actually fictitious para manalo young preferred bid na nagkakaroon pa rin ng stocks," he explained.
"Malinaw na malinaw na yung dalawang supposedly bidder, hindi nila alam na sumama sila sa bids," Sy added.
