Department of Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol during a presscon in Quezon City on Wednesday. In the said presscon, Pinol instructs the blacklisting of 43 garlic importers in the country. Photo by Jansen Romero
Department of Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol during a presscon in Quezon City on Wednesday. In the said presscon, Pinol instructs the blacklisting of 43 garlic importers in the country. Photo by Jansen Romero

Ni ROMMEL P. TABBAD

Blacklisted na ang 43 garlic importer dahil sa umano’y pagmamanipula sa presyo ng bawang sa merkado.

Paliwanag ni Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Emmanuel Piñol sa isang press conference kahapon, kinokontrol ng mga garlic importer ang pag-aangkat o pagpasok sa bansa ng bawang upang magkaroon ng garlic crisis.

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Ang garlic crisis ang gagamiting dahilan ng mga ito upang magtaas ng presyo, ayon kay Piñol.

“I will issue an order blacklisting these 43 importers effective today for failing to import the garlic needed,” sabi ni Piñol.

Sinabi ng kalihim na hindi na niya papayagang mag-angkat pa ng bawang ang nasabing mga importer, dahil kapag kailangang umangkat ng bansa ay hindi ginagawa ng mga ito ang kanilang trabaho.

Dahil dito, aniya, nagkakaroon ng cartel.

“The 43 traders were expected to import 70,100 metric tons of garlic from January to June, but shipped in only 19,253 metric tons,” sabi pa ni Piñol.