Lacson: Committee of the Whole Best Suited to Handle DA Tong-pats Probe
Convening the Senate into the Committee of the Whole will be needed to tackle the wide scope of the problems involving the tong-pats mess at the Department of Agriculture, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson said Wednesday.
Lacson said the issues stemming from the mess include food security and a revisiting of the Food Safety Act of 2013 (RA 10611); foregone revenues; and public health. I am recommending that the Senate convene into a Committee of the Whole to handle the investigation. The tong-pats mess has an impact on foregone revenue and corruption, food security, and health. The Committee of the Whole is best suited for this, instead of having the Blue Ribbon Committee and Committees on Agriculture, Ways and Means and Health handle it separately, he said.
Lacson Pushes Senate Probe of Tong-Pats Racket in Hog Importation
Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson pushed Tuesday for a Senate investigation into the activities of a syndicate within the Department of Agriculture that stands to gain billions of pesos in tong-pats from the DA s recommendation to lower tariff rates on - and to increase the minimum access volume (MAV) of - imported pork products due to the severe impact of African Swine Fever (ASF) on the swine industry.
Lacson said the anomalies amount to a triple whammy that threatens to kill our local hog industry while raising health concerns and costing the government forgone revenues.
(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“He (Dar) has no business being of being DA secretary if he is not aware (of the scheme),” Sotto said when sought to comment if he believes the DA chief knows about the so-called “tongpats” scheme which Sen. Panfilo Lacson bared on Monday.
Lacson is pushing for a Senate probe into the alleged kickback scheme at the DA perpetrated by a syndicate within the agency that stands to gain billions of pesos from the DA’s recommendation to lower tariff rates on imported pork products due to the severe impact of the African Swine Fever (ASF) on the local swine industry.
Lacson seeks Senate probe on tongpats on pork imports By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
Published March 16, 2021 2:27pm
Updated March 16, 2021 5:13pm Senator Panfilo Lacson is calling for a Senate investigation into the alleged activities of a syndicate within the Department of Agriculture (DA) which could possibly gain billions of pesos in tongpats or padded costs from the recommendation to reduce tariff rates and increase minimum access volume (MAV) allocation on pork imports. Lacson on Tuesday said that alleged anomalies are tantamount to a triple whammy as they not only threaten to kill the local hog industry but at the same raise health concerns and cost the government foregone revenues.