CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Police formally filed a criminal complaint in court against the disrtibutor of unlawful pesticides following a raid at the suspect’s shop in Barangay Sapang Biabas, Mawaque Resettlement Center, Mabalacat City Monday.
Named respondent for the crime in violation of Republic Act 7394, also known as the Consumer Welfare Act and Presidential Decree 1144 Regulating Fertilizer and Pesticide Industry is Romualdo Garcia, the alleged owner of the shop where the counterfeit pesticides were recovered during the raid.
Police Lt. Colonel Jay Dimaandal, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division-Special Concerns Unit (RID-SCU) stationed in this regional police headquarters, said Garcia had been the object of complaints by farmers who were able to buy fertilizers and pesticides from his shop.
Dimaandal said Garcia unlawfully distributed banned fertilizers and pesticides to farmers in Mabalacat City and other areas in Pampanga, prompting his unit to coordinate with the Fertilizer and Pesticides Authority of the Department of Agriculture (FPA-DA).
Joint RID-SCU and FPA-DA raided Garcia’s shop where more than P200,000 worth of counterfiet fertilizers and pesticides have been found stockpiled in one of the rooms.
All the products have markings of J3 Prime Agro and Chemicals. “The illegally produced fertilizers and pesticides pose danger to farmers and long exposure to humans would affect their health,” said Dimaandal, qouting FPA-DA representatives.
Seized items were placed under the custory of FPA-DA while Garcia remained behind bars at the RID-SCU detention facility in this police camp.