📷Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr.
A lawmaker has urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) to investigate rice traders falsely declaring their import records to gain huge profits.
The practice has not only deprived the government of its much-needed revenue but also enabled traders to control prices in the market with their huge stocks of imported rice, Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr. said.
Suansing, a member of the House quinta committee or the Murang Pagkain Super Committee probing importers in connection with the steep rice prices, noted significant discrepancies in importation records of traders, particularly those in Mindanao.
He cited the case of Davao-based businessman Stewart Santiago and his two companies, Nance II AgriTraders and Davao Solar Best Corp.
He highlighted mismatched data between the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
While the BPI issued sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances (SPSICs) for only 48,852 metric tons of rice in 2022, BOC records showed that Santiago’s companies imported 348,011 mts, resulting in a discrepancy of 299,159 mts.
“Per BOC records, Nance II and Davao Solar Best imported a total volume of 348,011 metric tons. But the problem, as per BPI data, they were only issued SPSICs for 48,852 mts. There is a discrepancy of 299,159 metric tons,” Suansing pointed out during a hearing attended by Santiago last week.
The lawmaker stressed that such irregularities could reflect deeper issues in import regulations, potentially enabling large-scale misdeclarations and abuse of government-issued import clearances.
When asked whether his companies were paying the correct taxes, Santiago claimed his companies operate on slim margins of P1 to P1.50 per kilogram of imported rice, relying on high volumes for profitability.
Records presented at the hearing showed that Nance II AgriTraders and Davao Solar Best paid P2.8 billion in duties and taxes in 2023, with smaller amounts in prior years.
“But per our record, in 2021 and 2022 your two companies paid only P650 million in duties and taxes. In 2021, you paid P1.6 billion. In 2022, you paid P2 billion. In 2023, it’s P2.8 billion,” Suansing pointed out.
“Kung piso lang ang kita per kilo, patingnan natin sa BIR kung ang piso na ‘yan, deklarado (If you earn P1 per kilo, let’s show to the BIR if that P1 was declared),” Suansing told Santiago.
He urged the tax bureau to verify the accuracy of the companies’ financial declarations.
At the same time, he criticized the Department of Agriculture and the BPI for lapses in monitoring rice imports.
He said he called for investigations of rice traders by the BIR and the PCC to ensure accountability and transparency in the rice importation process and see to it that stocks of the staple food are not only in the hands of few traders. (WILMA N. YAMZON)
