Agriculture Secretary William Dar came to the defense of a Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) official being accused of extortion and smuggling of vegetables into the country, saying the complaints lodged against the executive have been dismissed.

During the continuation of the House inquiry on the alleged smuggling of agricultural products in the country on Tuesday, Wilma Ocampo of Cambridge Cooperative said that several BPI employees, under Jesusa Ascutia, tried to extort P500,000 from their group for the release of their imported vegetables from seaport.

“As part of our thorough investigation on the matter, we studied the complaint and administrative records of Ms. Jesusa Ascutia of the Bureau of Plant Industry Quarantine Office, the one being accused of extortion by Cambridge,” Dar said in a statement.

“The 2022 extortion complaint filed by Cambridge was dismissed by the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office due to insufficient evidence, quoting its resolution: ‘The records show that the case is bereft of evidence that would prove the validity of the complaint’,” the Agriculture chief said.

In response to Cambridge Cooperative’s accusations, the Department of Agriculture (DA)-BPI explained that the cooperative imported fresh vegetables from China, which was considered illegal in the Philippines. It also said that only frozen vegetables can be accommodated in the country.

This year, the Agriculture chief said Ocampo of Cambridge Cooperative filed an extortion complaint at the Manila City Prosecutor's Office against Ascutia and her team.

“The complaint of Ms. Ocampo was a result of the apprehension of their shipment of two container vans of vegetables, which Ms. Ascutia and BPI Quarantine Team found misdeclared,” Dar said.

“The complaint was dismissed by the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office due to insufficient evidence, as mentioned above,” he added.

The DA chief further said that Ascutia, as per records in the Civil Service Commission (CSC), had appealed to the CSC in 2017 her reassignment to the DA Office of the Secretary, which was supposedly based on certain allegations of corruption.

“The CSC decided in her favor due to lack of merit for reassignment, thus ordering her reinstatement at the BPI,” he said.

Ascutia was not invited to the hearing on Tuesday but she will be invited in the next scheduled hearing.

Nonetheless, Dar said the DA “remains firm in its policy of NO TO CORRUPTION!”

He called on the public and agriculture stakeholders, particularly those who transact business with the DA’s regulatory agencies, “to come forward if they have knowledge of any misconduct, especially of corruption, and present evidence so we can act on them with urgency.”

“The DA remains steadfast in our drive against graft and corruption,” Dar said.

“As Secretary of Agriculture, I condemn in the strongest terms smuggling and all other forms of illegal entry of all agricultural, fishery and meat products into the country — as these compete directly with the produce of our farmers, fishers and food producers, depriving them of much-needed livelihood and incomes,” he added.

The Agriculture chief said the DA Legal Service continues its thorough internal investigation on the allegations, including possible lapses and administrative violations.

“We reiterate our drive to purge this agency completely of corruption,” Dar said.—AOL, GMA News