A HOUSE leader on Saturday sought to declare smuggling as heinous crime punishable by death, likening the problem to a “vampire” that sucks government resources and take away the opportunities and services for the people.
Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe said the public should back the campaign of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority chairman Martin Diño upon instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte to address smuggling with dispatch.
“Smuggling should be considered a heinous crime because this strikes against the very core of the blood and life of the government, which are taxes,” Batocabe said.
“If you smuggle, you are like a termite and a leech which suck our coffers dry, deprive our poor (of) the needed social services and kill our jobs and industries. For his sins against the country and ordinary Filipino, a smuggler deserves to die not only once but many tines over,” Batocabe added.
Batocabe said he would make the proposal to include smuggling in the proposed restoration of death penalty as one of the crimes punishable by capital offense.
This developed as Diño sought the National Food Authority‘s clarification whether it had resumed granting permits for rice importation after the discovery of an estimated 260,000 bags of Thai rice onboard M/V MY Vuong off the Subic Freeport’ waters (Outside Port Limits).
Diño said some 13,000 metric tons of white rice from Thailand covered by an alleged import permit issued by NFA Administrator Tomas Escarez were about to be unloaded at the Subic Freeport when discovered by SBMA authorities.
“We have stopped the unloading to give us time to determine if the import permit is genuine,” Dino said.
“So far, the NFA has not responded to our query.”
The alleged IP was issued Dec. 29 last year and valid for seven days in favor of Labangan Farmers First Consolidated Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Multi Grain MPC, Adda Latta Namnama MPC, Magsaysay Farmers MPC, Ligaya Multi Purpose and Transport Services Cooperative and Sto. Niño Farmers MPC.
Diño said he issued an alert status on the shipment, since the DA ban on rice importation had not been officially lifted following reports of massive rice smuggling in the past through falsified NFA import permits.
He said he found it strange that Labangan Farmers First Consolidated MP is based in Bulanit, Labanga, Zamboanga del Sur while Magsaysay Farmers MPC is based in Magsaysay, Davao del Sur, and yet their shipments are consigned to Subic in Luzon.
Multi-Grain MPC is based in Buga, San Miguel, Bulacan; Adda Latta MPC in East Natividad, Pangasinan; Ligaya MPC is in Ligaya, Sablayan, Mindoro Occidental; and Sto. Niño Farmers MPC is in Sto. Niño, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.
Alleged massive rice smuggling in the past gave fake importers huge profits from, compromising the interest of Filipino farmers, Dino said.
Diño said he had issued an order to hold the release of the controversial deformed steel bars imported from China in response to the order of the Department of Trade and Industry, recalling a previously granted clearance for the transport of the materials outside the Subic warehouse.
He also issued an alert on the shipment of 100,000 metric tons of refined sugar from Thailand following an acknowledgement letter issued by former Officer In Charge, Office of the Administrator, Randy Escolango.