MANILA – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Wednesday said charges have been filed against six persons, including three officials of the Department of Agriculture (DA), in connection with the alleged manipulation of onion prices in the country.
In a press briefing, Remulla said charges of hoarding, falsification and profiteering were filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Bonena Multipurpose Cooperative (Bonena) officials Israel Reguyal, Mary Ann dela Rosa and Victor dela Rosa Jimenez.
Meanwhile, the NBI has also filed charges of violation of Republic Act 3019 (Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) against DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista, Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS) officer in charge (OIC) Junibert de Sagun and Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) director Gerald Panganiban.
The DA officials were also charged administratively for insufficiency and incompetence of official duties under the Revised Administrative Code.
“We expect warrants of arrest to be issued once the case we file the case before the courts. Tinaas na namin ang (We have raised the) standards of evaluating cases. Ang aming standard ngayon (Our standard now is), reasonable certainty of conviction. We may be a little slower but we are more sure of the cases,” he added.
The cases involved 8,000 bags of onion in December 2022 transacted with the Food Terminals Inc. (FTI) in Taguig City investigated by the NBI.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. earlier ordered law enforcement agencies to go after speculators and hoarders of onions, after prices soared to nearly PHP800 per kilo even as farmgate prices were only below PHP20 at the time.
“We’re talking about years and years of records, congressional records, and the thousands of pages of transcript. so we have to dig through all of these. So far ito yung nakuha ng ating effort but marami pa tayong pinag aaralan na pwedeng i-charge na (this is what we have obtained through our efforts but we are looking at filing charges against other) past officials and present officials of the DA and other offices,” Remulla said.
Remulla had previously directed prosecutors to ensure a sufficient case buildup for a conviction before cases are filed. (PNA)
