Baguio bishop supports farmers’ plea to stop vegetable smuggling

BAGUIO CITY: Mayor Benjamin Magalong signed City Council Resolution 424-22, supporting the pastoral message of Bishop Victor Bendico on the call to save farmers and to stop the alleged smuggling of vegetables that greatly hurt local farmers in the Cordillera Administrative Region. The measure states that the pastoral message of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Baguio signed by Bendico was read in all Catholic Church parishes in the Summer Capital and Benguet province. In the pastoral message, the Diocese expressed support for the outcry of farmers to save them by stopping vegetable smuggling and denounced any kind of vegetable smuggling that kills the local vegetable industry. It further says: “Smuggled vegetables greatly hurt the local farming industry. At the last celebration of the League of Associations at the La Trinidad Trading Post, we sounded the clarion call to maintain the vibrancy and sustenance of vegetable trading in our locality. Our agricultural environment will always be at the losing end when smuggled vegetables at a cheaper price flood the market.” “This causes a drastic reduction in the buying of locally produced ones. Smuggling devastates our socioeconomic atmosphere greatly based on the vegetable industry. Also, smuggling divides our people. Hence, we must protect our farmers and promote our local vegetable products,” the message read. The approved resolution states that the city government supports the efforts of local farmers and strongly encourages its constituents to buy locally produced vegetables.