On July 22, a group of small banana exporters, who refused to be named, reiterated their plea to investigate the office, claiming they have been victims of extortion and corruption by the personnel of the agency collecting “special fees.”
“We understand that there are fees, mandated by the law, that we ought to pay upon exporting but what they are asking was too much,” they said.
The group said that when they started exporting in 2012, the Quarantine office was collecting P2,000 per inspector from Panabo City to Sasa.
In a week, average container up for export is at 10 to 12 containers, which would require some five inspectors.
“That would mean a total of P10,000 for the 10 containers plus a P750 for a Phytosanitary Certificate and a regulatory fee (RF) of P840, this would sum up to P 11,590,” they said adding that only the RF has an official receipt issuance.
They compared that when they consulted in Manila main office, only P12 per kilometer must be collected for transportation expenses in car or jeep hire and Phytosanitary Certificate is not being charged.
Distance from Panabo City to Sasa is estimated at 23 kilometers.
Under Presidential Decree No. 1433 or Plant Quarantine Decree of 1978 and DA administrative order no. 1 series of 2001 payment for overtime services and reimbursements of meals, transportation, lodging and other expenses are considered required and legal fees to be collected by banana exporters.
Under the AO overtime, rates per hour of the staff is at P50 and meal expenses is at P75.
