BAGUIO CITY — Vegetable traders in La Trinidad, Benguet warned the public on Wednesday that volumes of potatoes and carrots being sold in the country are falsely labeled as highland produce from this city or Benguet.
The La Trinidad Vegetable Trading Areas, Inc. said these carrots and potatoes are sold in boxes deceptively marked, “A.B.C. Baguio,” but are not locally sourced. They have made their way to markets in Metro Manila, Sariaya in Quezon, and other places.
The group is appealing to the government to investigate this deception at the expense of their local farming industry, especially since they believe that the products were smuggled into Olongapo City on Nov. 10, 2023 and supposed to be confiscated by the Bureau of Customs.
It also stressed that highland farmers in the region do not mass produce carrots and potatoes. — Artemio A. Dumlao
