Chinese trader cited in contempt

THE Senate agriculture committee on Wednesday cited Chinese trader Shi Chaoqun in contempt for allegedly lying about having no government contacts who had helped him smuggle agricultural products into the Philippines.

Senator Francis Pancratius N. Pangilinan said Mr. Shi’s explanation was insufficient, while Senator Erwin T. Tulfo accused him of lying under oath about how he was able to run a trading business in the country despite not speaking Filipino and claiming to have no local contacts.

“We are being fooled. He says he conducts business here, but he is Chinese, and he insists he has no local contact,” Mr. Tulfo said.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr. Shi said he never communicated with government offices. “I cannot communicate with them. How do I communicate with them if I don’t need them?” he asked.

Authorities earlier tagged Mr. Shi as a lessee of a freezer in a Cavite cold storage facility raided for storing allegedly smuggled frozen goods. — Adrian H. Halili