Senate panel cites Chinese trader in contempt for 'lying'

The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform on Wednesday cited in contempt a Chinese national allegedly involved in agricultural smuggling.

The motion was raised by Senator Erwin Tulfo during the committee hearing, after he said he was irked by Chaoquin Shi’s “repeated lying under oath.”

“I move to cite this person in contempt for continuously lying before this committee. Kanina pa po eh. Niloloko tayo. Wala siyang kakayahan, nagnegosyo siya dito isang Chinese, pero walang contact?" Tulfo said. 

(He is fooling us. He claims he has no capability; he is just doing business here, a Chinese, but without a contact?) 

Tulfo made the motion as he, Committee Chairman Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and Senator Raffy Tulfo pressed Shi to identify who facilitated his business dealings in the Philippines.

“Answer us correctly — you swore to tell the truth. It looks like you might want to visit downstairs, in our detention facility. That’s not a problem. That goes for all of you,” Raffy Tulfo said.

Shi, identified as one of the lessees of Vigour Freezer and previously apprehended by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for alleged involvement in smuggling, repeatedly claimed that since arriving in the country in 2017, he had no local contacts.

“Who did you talk to for your passport, or to move around the Philippines?” Raffy Tulfo asked.

Shi, speaking through an interpreter, replied: “When I came here, I had no one to help me, no one to rely on.”

When asked by Pangilinan to explain why he should not be cited in contempt, Shi said: “I really don’t know anyone when I came here, so I cannot really say anything to you that what I am saying is the truth." 

"I just came here thinking I would do this kind of business, but I really don’t know anyone. Even if I want to do this business, I don’t have anyone to help me,” Shi added.

The committee found Shi’s responses insufficient, leading to his being cited in contempt.

Tulfo then urged the BI to coordinate with the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) so that Shi can be detained at the Senate detention facility instead of the BI Warden’s Facility.

Shi, a payor of Freezer No. 8 in Vigour Global Freezer, was apprehended by the BI at the airport while attempting to leave the country.

He was arrested for violating his long-term work visa before his appearance at the Senate hearing.—MCG, GMA Integrated News