Dar orders probe into Lacson's tongpats claim as DA insists everything above-board

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has ordered an investigation into the allegation of Senator Panfilo Lacson about a supposed money-making scheme of a syndicate within the department, the DA said Tuesday.

Lacson called for a Senate investigation into the alleged activities of a syndicate within the DA, which could possibly gain billions of pesos in "tongpats" or padded costs from the recommendation to reduce tariff rates and increase minimum access volume (MAV) allocation on pork imports.

DA-MAV Secretariat Executive Director Jane Bacayao said the issuance of MAV allocation on pork imports is done in accordance with the law  .

“The issuance of MAV allocation is above-board. The allocations of existing MAV licensees are those they have been using even before the administration of Sec. Dar, in accordance with the existing MAV guidelines,”  she said in a statement.

The DA is proposing to increase the MAV on pork imports to 400,000 metric tons from the current 54,000 metric tons to augment domestic supply due to the constraints brought by the African swine fever (ASF).

Minimum access volume refers to the volume of a specific agricultural commodity that may be imported with a lower tariff. This is a commitment of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to facilitate trade between countries.

The DA is also proposing to lower tariffs from 30% to 5% for this year.

With this, Lacson revealed that there have been reports of unscrupulous individuals imposing "tongpats" or padded costs amounting to P5 to P7 per kilo of imported pork.

He said padded costs may significantly increase if the tariffs on pork imports are reduced and the MAV allocation is increased.

The senator also claimed that the said practice has been ongoing for several years now.

In fact, he said that between June and October 2018, imported pork from banned countries due to the problem of African swine fever has flooded the local market.

Bacayao, for her part, said the issuance of MAV import clearance to MAV licensees is “ministerial or non-discretionary on the part of the MAV Secretariat.”

“MAV allocations and licenses are strictly non-transferable,” she said.

“The MAV allocation of licensees has been the same and continues even before the administration of Sec. Williiam Dar, in accordance with existing MAV guidelines,” she added.—AOL, GMA News