Smuggling syndicate on agri-business in Benguet must be stopped
The proliferation of smuggled agricultural products nationwide resembles the regeneration of nuisance agricultural inputs trading industry in Benguet.
The entry of smuggled agricultural products with the apparent trading of nuisance agricultural inputs were declared illegal and prohibited by the government.
But the series of closure orders were arrogantly ignored and defied by the people or businessmen concerned who perennially violate current policies and health safety protocols.
Surveillance disclosed the smuggled products were fortified with chemical preservatives to sustain the superior quality with affordable prices to the customers.
In contrast, the inferior quality of unfortified local products demands higher prices.
The syndicated smugglers and nuisance traders disregarded the golden tenet that health is better than wealth, hence, the accumulation of wealth has been prioritized over the protection of public health safety.
The toleration of illegal trading of nuisance agricultural inputs could be favorable for agricultural production, but the unfavorable pollution from the nuisance trading are more detrimental and hazardous to the general public.
The nuisance trading intruders were likewise influenced to acquire as well as empowered to bulldoze forested hillsides along Halsema Highway that were converted into refuge center of their illegal nuisance trading within Shilan ancestral domain in La Trinidad.
The continued operation of this nuisance business and illegal trading in Shilan not only endangers the ancestral domain due to pollution, but also exposes residents to health hazards.
This public concern that has been causing anxiety to the general public may necessitate a Senate inquiry. — GROSSO D. VELASCO, Shilan agricultural coordinator, La Trinidad, Benguet