SENATE probers moved to extradite a Filipino-Chinese couple earlier tagged as owners of a seized shipment of black corals and other rare marine species for evading summons by the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
On motion of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, probe chairman, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was asked to initiate immediate extradition proceedings against Olivia Li and her husband, Li Yu Ming, also known as Jose Pring, who were believed to have fled to Hong Kong or mainland China.
Zubiri said it was established during the Senate inquiry that the fugitive couple owned the Zamboanga-based Li and Lim Trading Corp., which was linked to the illegal shipment earlier confiscated by authorities.
“The DOJ should pursue the case against the couple,” Zubiri told reporters after the hearing. “The DOJ should apply to immediately extradite the couple from China and Hong Kong, where we have separate extradition treaties.”
At the same time, the senators also sought sanctions against two Zamboanga prosecutors, Alfredo Jimenez and Gladdy Bernabe, for allegedly sitting on the couple’s case for similar offenses filed five years ago. “We are very frustrated by the inaction of these two prosecutors,” Zubiri said.
He confirmed that the Senate Committee on Environment has requested the DOJ to assign a special state prosecutor to handle the cases against those implicated in the seized shipment of the banned black corals “to make up for the alleged collusion at the local level.”
“Even Senate President Enrile was obviously frustrated and he recommended filing administrative charges against the two local prosecutors,” Zubiri added.
In a separate report submitted by Gil Valdez and Manuel Parlade of the Security Enforcement Service to Senate sergeant-at-arms, retired Maj. Gen. Jose Balajadia, a check with Cebu Pacific showed that a certain Li Yu Ming left Zamboanga for Manila and took a connecting flight to Hong Kong on June 7, a day before authorities issued a hold-departure order against him.
The report added, however, that no Olivia Li was listed on the same passenger manifest on the same date.
Meanwhile, Fair Trade Alliance is urging President Aquino to certify as urgent an anti-smuggling bill to prevent the further devastation of the country’s economy and its ecosystem.
Mars Mendoza, executive director of Fair Trade, said smugglers are running amok as they try to smuggle out of the country endangered sea turtles and black corals.
“These hideous acts show how serious smuggling has become. Smugglers are not scared of our laws and their corresponding penalties. In fact, these acts should be considered as heinous crimes by our legislators due to their destructive impact on the economy and the environment,” Mendoza said.
FairTrade believes a law providing for stiffer penalties against smugglers could have prevented the destruction of more than 190 square kilometers of coral reef, referring to the cargo worth more than $800,000 that was seized by the Bureau of Customs at a Manila port last month.
“We urge P-Noy to seriously look into the problem of smuggling and certify as urgent the antismuggling bill, or House Bill 1694, introduced by Reps. Lorenzo Tañada III and Nicanor Briones, and Senate Bill 2408, sponsored by Sen. Ralph Recto,” it said in a statement. Tañada and Recto are members of the Liberal Party, to which President Aquino belongs.
Last year the group said the government lost an about P224 billion in revenues due to smuggling alone. This amount could have been used for additional classrooms, hospital beds and farm-to-market roads, the group lamented.
(With J. Mayuga)
In Photo: Rosario Yu and husband Benny Yu, the alleged owners of the warehouse where the illegal black corals were discovered, appear before a Senate hearing on Monday. (Nonie Reyes)
