SENATOR Joseph Victor Ejercito on Monday backed mounting calls Monday for tougher sanctions against agricultural smugglers including slapping them with non-bailable charges of economic sabotage to effectively end their illegal activities.
The lawmaker aired his lament as furious farmers warned the government that more than 20 smugglers are “as of now bringing in white and red onions, rice, and frozen meat products illegally through Philippine ports.”
Ejercito declared, “It is time to crush this group,” adding, “let’s slap them with economic sabotage charges because this is non-bailable. They are destroying the livelihood of our farmers.
He added that as the principal author of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, “this news that we still have so many agri-smugglers operating in the country sadden me. It’s been six to seven years since the law was passed, but it seems people are just ignoring the law.”
Sinag: More smugglers scot-free
At the same time, Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) president Rosendo So said in a radio interview that “there are numerous new smugglers who were not included in the list of agricultural smugglers previously submitted to the Senate.”
His group is currently working with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) in pressing “economic sabotage charges against individuals involved in bringing in P30 million worth of smuggled white onions recently confiscated at the Manila International Container Port. “
Ejercito said the national government needs to fully implement the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which he principally authored during his first term in the Senate, in order to effectively address the rampant agricultural smuggling in the country.
He recalled that in previous hearings on the Department of Agriculture’s sugar fiasco, he blasted agriculture officials for failing to implement the measure and promoting excessive importation, lamenting it continues to harm small farmers.
“We passed the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling law, classifying large-scale agricultural smuggling as a heinous crime and a [form of] economic sabotage. And yet we keep resorting to importations. So if they’re not smuggled, the farm products are excessively imported,” he lamented.
He earlier joined Senate
Ways and Means Committee chairman Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian and customs officials at the BOC headquarters in Manila to conduct an ocular inspection and discussion on the agency’s modernization program.
He stressed the BOC’s modernization efforts should be geared toward curbing agricultural smuggling and addressing alleged widespread corruption within the agency. “Our aim is to improve needed revenues for the significant programs. It’s also important to monitor the modernization program because smuggling remains rampant in many parts of the country,” Ejercito added.