MANILA, Philippines – Former agriculture chief Leonardo Montemayor’s surrender on Monday, October 26 is the latest development in the dispute between farmers’ groups and Planters Products Inc., an agricultural firm recently implicated in illegal rice imports from Vietnam.
The Makati Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 148 issued the warrant against Montemayor for cyber libel and oral defamation, based on a case filed by Planters Products Inc.
“May pulis na pumunta sa bahay ko, pero tumuloy ako sa Makati para sumuko sa RTC at magpost ng bail,” Montemayor told Rappler on Tuesday, October 27. (There were policemen who came to my house, but I went to Makati to surrender to the RTC and post bail.)
Montemayor said he posted bail amounting to P84,000, donated by members of his group, the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), and political party Magsasaka. The RTC scheduled the arraignment on November 24.
A long-running criticism
Montemayor, FFF, and Magsasaka have been critical of Planters Products Inc.’s rice imports, particularly its impact on local prices and farmers’ income.
They described Planters Products Inc. as a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC), a claim that the company refuted.
On March 18, the farmers’ groups questioned the legality of Planters Products Inc. and Food Terminal Inc.’s rice imports and sales.
In response, Planters Products Inc. filed last May a cyber libel and slander complaint against the Federation of Free Farmers and Magsasaka. The FFF said then that it was ready to refute the complaint.
The animosity between the parties boiled over in October following the rice import controversy involving Planters Products Inc. Over 12,000 metric tons of rice from Vietnam had arrived off Davao past the contract deadline.
Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. serves as ex officio chairman of Planters Foundation Inc., the firm that holds majority of Planters Products Inc.’s outstanding shares. This link provided easy fodder for criticism as well as calls for Tiu Laurel to step down even if only temporarily.
Before the import controversy erupted, the Food Terminal Inc., a GOCC, also filed a cyber libel complaint last July against the FFF.
The FFF criticized the move saying, “FTI’s recent legal action highlights a deeply concerning pattern wherein individuals and organizations questioning government actions are increasingly facing criminal complaints.”
‘Planters Products is sui generis’
The DA secretary’s link to the Planters Foundation Inc. is nothing new. Montemayor said that all DA secretaries, including himself, also served as chairman of Planters Foundation Inc. This has been the practice since the first Marcos government, and it was Ferdinand E. Marcos who issued the letters of instructions that created this arrangement.
Tiu Laurel denied that Planters Products Inc. is a GOCC, during the Senate hearing on the DA’s proposed 2027 budget.
“Planters Products is sui generis,” said Tiu Laurel. “It is unique on its own.”
The list from the Governance Commission for GOCCs as of June 30 includes both Planters Products Inc. and Planters Foundation Inc. These firms are classified under the trade, area development and tourism sector.
The DA chief refuted claims that he had a role in the rice importation, reiterating that he was the one who ordered the cancellation of import permits. – Rappler.com