THE HOUSE agriculture panel on Tuesday lifted contempt orders on officials of Argo International Forwarders, Inc. after providing explanations that lawmakers found “satisfactory” amid its investigation on high onion prices.
“Signifying their willingness to cooperate, [to] help in the ongoing inquiry, and having complied with the documentary requirements requested, the committee unanimously agreed to lift the contempt orders and begin the process of their release,” Quezon Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga, chair of the agriculture and food committee, said in a statement.
Mr. Enverga told BusinessWorld in a Viber chat that the officials are still detained in Congress, following contempt rules.
In a letter addressed to the committee, Argo legal counsel Jan Ryan Cruz said they will submit the remaining documents the panel requested.
The company’s Operations Manager John Patrick Sevilla, President and General Manager Efren Zoleta Jr., and Mr. Cruz apologized to the committee.
According to Mr. Enverga, Mr. Zoleta and Mr. Cruz voluntarily presented themselves to the House sergeant-at-arms on Monday.
Lawmakers last week voted to cite in contempt the three officials for declining to present inventory records requested by the agriculture panel for confidentiality reasons.
Mr. Sevilla, the only official present in the meeting, was detained earlier.
Argo is based in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. The province is one of the biggest onion producers in the country. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz