Senators JV Ejercito and Raffy Tulfo on Monday slammed the officials of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for confiscating at least 40 kilos of red onions and fruits from 10 Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight attendants.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform on the soaring onion prices, Ejercito first called out the BOC and said that the confiscated agricultural products fresh from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are obviously for personal consumption only.
"Ang PAL crew, nakakaawa.... Eh milyon-milyon 'yung nakakalusot sa smuggling at iba pa. Ito papatulan pa natin. 'Yung mga big-time na kartel, smuggler, at kolektor? Nakakalusot. I feel bad, Madame chair," he said.
Ejercito, who is one of the principal authors of the Anti-Agricultural smuggling law, said he has not heard any news that big-time smugglers were captured in the past years.
"Ang nakakalungkot, ito ang ating pinupuntirya, ang Philippine airlines crew na tag-two at one kilograms [ang dala] pero 'yung mga containers, nakakalusot. Ano na ba ang nangyayari sa atin?" he lamented.
After hearing Ejercito's statements, Raffy Tulfo also condemned the BOC officials.
"What the heck? Hinarang niyo, eh pampasalubong lang ['yung dalang prutas at sibuyas]. Bakit 'yung malalaking big time smugglers na paulit-ulit na binabanggit?" he exclaimed.
"Ang kakapal ng mukha ninyo. Pinahiya niyo pa iyong airline crew. Hulihin niyo yung big-time smugglers na binanggit ni Senator JV from the newspaper. Hanggang ngayon, nadoon pa rin sila. Tapos 'yong airline crew pinaghuhuli niyo, 'yong big-time hindi niyo pinaghuhuli," the Senator further said.
In a statement, the BOC said 10 PAL crew did not have an authorized permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) for their seized onions and fruits. Consequently, these were confiscated.
The agency, in a Facebook post on Monday, reminded all passengers that they can not bring any vegetables and spices without Quarantine Clearance (for personal use) or Sanitary & Phytosanitary Import Clearance (for commercial use) from the BPI.
