After the discovery of a huge volume of sugar in various warehouses in Luzon, the Malacanang said on Sunday that the sugar supply shortage in the country is only "artificial".
In a press release, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said the simultaneous inspection showed that the shortage of sugar is caused by the "hoarding" of sugar traders who only want to benefit from the rising sugar prices.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who promised to bring out sugar stocks in the market to lower the sugar prices, earlier directed the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to exercise its visitorial power to inspect warehouses where sugars are allegedly hoarded for profit.
In a recent warehouse inspection in Guiguinto, Bulacan, customs found 60,000 bags of imported sugar from Thailand that were delivered by the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) on Friday evening.
The customs officials reported that two of the warehouses found were "half-full of sugar" and one warehouse had "sugar stacked up to the roof."
The BOC said it would verify the authenticity of the import permit presented by the warehouse caretaker as it found that it reused the Sugar order no. 3 issued by the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) last February.
On Thursday, BOC also stopped the smuggling of 7,000 metric tons of Thai refined sugar, equivalent to 140,000 bags worth Php 45.6 million in Subic port. The Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) also discovered that a “recycled permit” was used to allow the said imports.
In an earlier warehouse investigation in Pampanga and Bulacan, the BOC seized Php 220 million worth of Thai sugar imports.
Cruz-Angeles said the BOC and the agriculture department are continuously inspecting sugar warehouses to fulfill Marcos' intensified campaign against the illegal importation of agricultural products.
As of Sunday, Aug. 21, the two agencies has inspected sugar warehouses in Deparo, Caloocan City; Balut in Tondo and San Nicolas in Manila; Rosales, Pangasinan; San Fernando, Pampanga; Ibaan, Batangas, and Davao.
