THE House Committee on Agriculture and Food has ordered a trader and executives of cold storage facilities to explain why they should not be cited in contempt and be detained at the Batasang Pambansa for their absence during yesterday’s hearing into the alleged hoarding and manipulation of prices of agricultural products, especially onions.
The panel chaired by Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga approved the motion of Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo for the committee to issue the show-cause orders to seven resource persons, namely trader Leah “Sibuyan Queen” Cruz, Mary Ann Lim and Grace Ang Ong of Super 5 cold storage, Sherman Chan and Eric Fabilona of Tian Long cold storage, Vilma Camato, former operations manager of Argo storage, and trader-owner Marlene Lamata of Rivson storage.
The resource persons asked to be excused from the hearing, saying they have varying medical conditions, with Cruz even telling the lawmakers she was confined in a hospital.
“Pati ba naman sa absences mayroon ding cartel? (There’s also a cartel when it comes to absences?) I move that we issue show cause order so they can explain to the committee why we should not be citing them in contempt for failure to give us sufficient basis for their absence,” said Quimbo.
Chua’s lawyer, Kenneth Bryan Tegio, submitted a medical certificate to prove that his client has been confined at the Metropolitan Medical Center in Sta. Cruz, Manila since Sunday.
Medical certificates read by Enverga showed that Lim was advised by her doctor to take a bed rest since she is five-months pregnant, while Ong tested positive for COVID-19.
Fabilona is supposedly in Hong Kong for an eye operation, Lamata claimed to be suffering from upper respiratory tract infection, while Camato also submitted a medical certificate stating that she was not feeling well.
During the hearing, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga ordered the House’s resident physician, medical director Luis Bautista, to read Cruz’s medical certificate aloud and assess it, which was initially opposed by Tegio, invoking his client’s right to privacy.
But Barzaga dismissed the lawyer’s move, saying there is no such right in congressional probes “because no one will speak here anymore (if there is such a right).”
Bautista then read the certificate and said Cruz was admitted for “bleeding” which he said does not preclude her from attending the hearing through video conferencing.
Barzaga moved that the committee send Bautista to pay Cruz a visit today to personally ascertain if her condition really prevents her from attending the hearing, a motion which was carried by the panel.
Just this month, the panel cited in contempt three officials of the Argo International Forwarders Inc. for refusing to turn over to lawmakers their complete list of clients who stored red onions in their cold storage facility in Nueva Ecija late last year when prices were skyrocketing because of alleged hoarding of agricultural supplies.
The contempt citation was lifted after the Argo executives committed to cooperate with the probe. They were released from detention last week.
CONTEMPT
Last night, the House committee on agriculture cited in contempt two resource persons for allegedly lying before the panel when they initially denied being involved in the trading of agricultural products, especially onion.
On the motion of Quezon Rep. David “Jay-jay” Suarez, the panel ordered the detention of George Ong and Michael Ang, executives of the Superfive cold storage facility in Malabon City, at the House for 10 calendar days.
Suarez moved to have the two cited in contempt after they categorically denied to Quimbo that they are involved in trading, only to later on admit that they were indeed traders.
“Cong. Stella asked, are you involved in trading and they said categorically ‘no,’ and when the name of the company which was involved in trading was mentioned, inamin nila na bahagi ako ng kumpanyang ‘yun, so pagsisinungaling po ‘yun sa committee (they admitted they are part of the company, so that is lying to the committee), so I think Mr. chair that’s enough basis for us to find these individuals worthy to be cited in contempt,” Suarez said.
The lawyer of the two resource persons tried to seek the panel’s reconsideration before it voted on the motion, saying the contempt powers of Congress should only be used “in extreme cases” against those who defy the committee’s invitation.
Enverga however said the two were being cited in contempt for withholding information vital to the panel’s investigation while Barzaga said appearance in the panel does not mean that a resource person is immune from contempt.
