The Department of Justice (DOJ) pointed six to seven personalities who are allegedly behind the smuggling of onions and other agricultural products, which caused overpricing in 2022.
In a briefing on Thursday, July 6, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that these personalities were the same names who presented during the Senate’s last investigation related to the rising cost of onions.
"There are six or seven names that come out wherever we look at the whole picture. We have a very good idea about this. We just need to catch them on the act," said Remulla.
"May malaking galamay itong grupo na ito, kino-kontrol nila ang supply," he added.
He disclosed that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has conducted a test buy in Cebu, and they were ‘able to locate who is hoarding the supply [of onions] in Cebu’.
Remulla assured that they would prosecute the personalities responsible for the onion cartel for committing economic sabotage.
One of the names that came up during lawmakers’ hearings was Lilia "Lea" Cruz, tagged as the operator behind the "biggest" onion cartel in the country.
Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, vice chairperson of the House Appropriations Committee, said in May that Cruz engineered the false increase in onion prices from the end of 2022 to the early part of this year.
Meanwhile, Cruz denied being involved in the increase in onion prices, which reached P700 a kilogram in 2022.
Earlier this week, President Ferdinand "Bong Bong" Marcos Jr. directed the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to launch an investigation into the hoarding and smuggling of onions and other agricultural products.
