NBI refiles charges vs. suspected rice smuggler Davidson Bangayan

Government agents have refiled a suit against suspected rice smuggler Davidson Bangayan two years after the Department of Justice (DOJ) tossed back the complaint for further investigation.

Bangayan, also known as David Tan, was charged with bid fixing in violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act (Republic Act 9184) and monopoly and restraint of trade in violation of Article 186 of the Revised Penal Code, according to the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Graft Division on August 29. 

He is also facing charges for using a fictitious name or concealing true identity in violation of Article 178 of the RPC and violation of Commonwealth Act 142 as amended by Republic Act 6085.

Bangayan's co-respondents in the complaint for violations of RA 9184 and Article 186 of the RPC are spouses David and Judilyne Lim, Elizabeth Faustino, Eleanor Rodriguez and Leah Echeveria, owners of the sole proprietorships and representatives and officers of the farmers' cooperatives and organizations.

Others named in the complaint were single proprietors Eugene Pioquinto, Mary Joyce Lim, Jason Colocado, Michael Villanueva, Denis Gonzales, Willy Sy, Sandra Lim, Gil Calipayan, and Inigo Espiritu.

Upon investigation, the NBI found out the scheme where certain rice traders and importers were able to corner the National Food Authority's rice import allocations for 2012 through the use of 25 farmers' organizations and cooperatives and single proprietorships as dummies.

The NBI said the rice traders and importers pooled the bidders into groups and financed their individual bids for NFA rice allocations.

In exchange, the bidders were given a small percentage share of a certain amount per sack of rice they were allowed to import. Rodriguez, for instance, allegedly promised the farmers' cooperatives and organizations they would be paid P8 for every sack of rice.

It was also revealed that the single proprietorships and farmers' organizations and cooperatives had no financial and logistical capabilities to import the volume of rice they bidded for.

"The Private Sector Financed-Tax Expenditure Subsidy importation program of the NFA is actually designed to favor and benefit the farmers being the sector that is most affected by importations of rice. It is not designed for any other private entities aside from the farmers themselves. Any mechanism or scheme that would defeat this purpose must necessarily be contrary to said program," stated the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by GMA News Online.

"With the acts of subjects Bangayan and company, the other capable individuals were denied their share on the allocation of the rice importation."

The complaint against Bangayan and company was first filed with the DOJ in August 2014 but then Justice Secretary and now Senator Leila De Lima disclosed in October 2015 that the complaint was returned to the NBI to allow probers to gather more documentary evidence.

"I wouldn't say the evidence is weak. When a case goes through preliminary investigation, we have to make sure it meets the probable cause threshold [that is necessary for a case to be filed in court]. When we evaluated it, it was still not enough," De Lima was quoted as saying in an interview on October 5, 2015.

The NBI did not say what additional evidence it had gathered against the respondents. Attached, however, to the complaint were bidding documents from the NFA and affidavits of representatives of single proprietorships and farmers' organizations and cooperatives.

Graft charges, meanwhile, were filed by the NBI with the Office of the Ombudsman in August 2014 against former NFA Administrator and now Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) chief Angelito Banayo and four members of the NFA’s special bids and awards committee since they allowed the “unqualified” groups to join the bidding. 

The NBI also recommended to the DOJ that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) be furnished a copy of the complaint for "possible audit" of the single proprietorships and farmers' organizations and cooperatives and their financiers to determine their actual tax liabilities and to examine the bank transactions of the financiers including their identified employees or agents, or persons who acted in their behalf.

"It is very evident that substantial amounts have been transferred from the accounts of the farmers' cooperatives and organizations including the single or sole proprietorships that were used by the financiers to finance the bidding and importation of rice," the NBI said.

"Apparently, the identified financiers namely Davidson Bangayan a.k.a. David Tan, and spouses David Lim and Judilyne Lim used several dummy cooperatives, sole proprietorships, as well as corporations in order to corner a substantial amount of rice importation with the end goal of controlling the price of this basic commodity," it added.

A preliminary investigation on the complaint by the three-man DOJ panel headed by Assistant State Prosecutor Eden Wakay-Valdes is already underway. The DOJ set the filing of counter affidavits for October 12 and 30. —KG, GMA News