Farmers in Benguet Hold Protest during Valentine’s as Smuggling Problem Continues

On Valentine’s Day, vegetable farmers and traders held a protest which strengthens the call for the government to suppress smuggling activities as it continues to endanger their local livelihood. At least 250 vegetable farmers also signed a unity statement denouncing the “continuous smuggling of carrots from China, (which is)  flooding the key markets of Manila and other provinces.”

Both producers and traders maintain that such activities are “killing our local carrot production and eventually our farmers,” which the government is still yet to address. “We have been complaining since July 2021, yet up to now, they are openly distributing (smuggled) carrots,” elaborated Agot Balanoy, spokesperson for the League of Associations at La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Post.

“It’s a big disappointment,” Balanoy affirmed, noting how the interagency task force of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has been unsuccessful to act on the issue despite the Senate investigation on vegetable smuggling. Produce traders and farmers in Benguet have been particularly keen on the smuggling of carrots, but they have also protested against the smuggled cabbages and imported strawberries from China and South Korea, respectively.

Rudy Bulawan, president of the Benguet Vegetable Truckers and Traders Association, expressed the difficulties of local farmers in keeping up with the prices of carrots from China. Compared to the past, vegetable truckers have now been limited to just three trips a week for deliveries to Metro Manila.

Almost all ports receive smuggled carrots in bulk which lowers — and even eliminates — the need for transportation costs when it comes to the delivery of products to consumers. “Orders for Benguet carrots already dropped to 50%, and as an added burden from the recent oil price hike, even traders have to recalibrate our trips to survive,” explained Bulawan. “The government does not subsidize our farmers, they cannot compete with the low price of smuggled carrots.”

Smugglers have also become bolder when conducting their activities, highlighted vegetable trader Linda Balanggoy. “Before, those peddling smuggled carrots did it covertly, usually at night in the cover of darkness, now they do it in broad daylight,” said Balanggoy. This smuggling problem has become a significant challenge for farmers, especially just as they have started to recover from the losses caused by the global pandemic.

Source: Rappler