EVEN GINGER BEING SMUGGLED INTO RP FROM CHINA
MANILA, APRIL 29, 2008 (STAR) By Evelyn Macairan - Even ginger is now being smuggled into the country from China.Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales yesterday ordered intelligence operatives of the bureau to be on the lookout for alleged moves by unscrupulous importers to smuggle ginger into the country.
There are reports that shipments of ginger, which were not supported by import permits, are now being illegally sold in markets in Divisoria, Binondo and Tondo.
“If they do not have import permits from the concerned government agencies, they will immediately be considered as contraband and will be subject to seizure. If the merchandise does not have the required documents, we will file charges against the importer and the broker under the Run After the Smugglers Program (RATS). That is the standard operating procedure,” Morales said.
It was reported that farmers from Nueva Vizcaya and traders from Metro Manila have sent letters to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, asking him to address the problem.
The oversupply of ginger in the metropolis would adversely affect the income of local farmers.
The Bureau of Customs (BOC) could invoke their visitorial powers so that Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) can check on facilities that ginger farmers have identified to be selling or storing the illegally imported goods.
The BOC’s Intelligence and Enforcement Group (IEG) under Deputy Commissioner Celso Templo yesterday seized the contents of two container vans that were declared as pears, but upon inspection, they discovered that these contained P5-million worth of ginger and mushrooms.
The shipments arrived on board the vessels Ocean Park and OOCL Achievement last April 20 and 21 at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).
According to Templo, alert orders were issued for the shipments, whose consignee Pacific Eagle Enterprises has business address in Escolta, Manila, for failure to secure required clearance from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI).
JICA donates P500 M equipment to Pagasa for radars project Tuesday, April 29, 2008
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will soon dispatch experts to the country to conduct basic design studies to jumpstart the Japanese government’s Doppler radar project with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Pagasa director Prisco Nilo said the Doppler radars would be installed in Aparri, Cagayan; Virac, Catanduanes; and Guiuan, Eastern Samar, hopefully by next year.
Nilo said this would be the first time that the country would have the Doppler radar.
The radars were part of the P500-million grant of JICA to Pagasa.
Nilo said JICA has also funded the rehabilitation of Pagasa’s Flood Forecasting and Warning System in the Pampanga and Agno River Basins.
“The implementation of more than one project by JICA in one agency is quite a rare opportunity. We are grateful for the generosity of the Japanese government and for such high regard for Pagasa,” Nilo said.
The Doppler radars are capable of generating short-term but highly accurate weather forecasts.
Pagasa is planning to establish 10 Doppler radars nationwide by 2010.
Vicente Malano, chief of Pagasa’s field operations center, said the radar tracks cloud development and provides an estimate of the amount of rain that will fall.
Doppler refers to the principle the Austrian scientist Christian Doppler discovered in 1842. Doppler worked out his ideas using sound waves long before radio, much less radar, was invented.
The weather bureau is also planning to acquire the country’s first ever satellite forecasting system by 2010, in order to enhance the agency’s capability of forecasting weather disturbances that might cause massive devastation in the country and endanger Filipino lives.
Pagasa weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz said the satellite costs P1 billion.
Pagasa has been repeatedly criticized for inaccurate weather forecasts, especially when destructive typhoons hit the country. – Helen Flores
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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