Philippines President should have discussed rampant smuggling from China during Beijing visit: Report

The issue of rampant smuggling from China should have been included in Philippines President Bongbong Marcos' three-day visit to Beijing, according to Singapore based The Straits Times Newspaper.

The president may avoid demanding more forceful action from China as the country is one of the Philippines' largest trade and investment partners, the report said, adding that still, the damage brought by the illicit trade on the Philippines' economy cannot be ignored.

Representative of Albay's 2nd District in the Philippines House of Representatives, Joey Salceda, said a Chinese national-led syndicate has been responsible for smuggling prime agricultural products, including red onions into the country which now cost three times more from last year and 40 per cent more than the price of prime cuts of beef, the report said.

"This mafia is in control of agricultural smuggling in the country at every stage of the smuggling process, from transport to arrival to import permits and sanitary inspection. The intelligence sources identify the main characters as Chinese or their associates. They have people in the ships, the ports, the inspections, the quarantines, the warehouses, and the economic zones. It's very pervasive," Salceda said as quoted by The Straits Times Newspaper.

This mafia, he added, has been 'strangling the supply' of major agricultural products, contributing to the surge in prices of basic goods and services to a 14-year high of eight per cent in November last year.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized 60 shipping containers of contraband agricultural products worth some P253 million (S$6.1 million), including red and white onions found in 25 of the flagged containers, in just 42 days since November 12.

A third of the containers intercepted at the Manila and Subic ports came from China, with the contents falsely declared as steamed buns and frozen seafood, according to The Straits Times.

BOC Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz said that P23.5 billion worth of contraband including various agriculture products were confiscated by the bureau in 2022.

The Samahanng Nagkakaisang Marinong Pilipino (SMNP), a seafarers group in the Philippines, recently, questioned the country's Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Migrant Workers on why Chinese dredgers in the country are not hiring Filipinos to control their vessels, according to a report in The Geneva Daily.

According to the report, a common feature of Chinese-funded projects is their failure to engage local stakeholders, civil society organisations, and communities to inform, consult, solicit input, or address their grievances.

( With inputs from ANI )

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