Senators Francis Pangilinan and Erwin Tulfo on Monday pressed government agencies to explain why agricultural smugglers continue to evade prosecution despite billions of pesos in contraband already seized.
At the Senate’s second hearing on agricultural smuggling, Pangilinan likened the practice to cheating in basketball, saying syndicates and complicit officials rig the system while honest farmers, importers and producers suffer.
“Just like in corruption linked to flood-control projects, billions are also being stolen from the nation because of smuggling. Why is it that billions have been seized, yet since only 10 million pesos is needed for a case to be considered non-bailable under economic sabotage, nine years later not a single smuggler has been imprisoned for this offense?” Pangilinan said.
“Even a year after the passage of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law, no major syndicate or smuggler has been jailed either,” the lawmaker lamented.
Pangilinan noted that under Republic Act 10845, or the Anti-Smuggling Act of 2016, more than P5.8-billion worth of agricultural products were confiscated between July 2022 and November 2024.
During that period, 250 cases were filed involving P8.59-billion in goods, but only four convictions were secured and most cases were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
Pangilinan cited raids in 2024, including a P100-million bust of frozen meat in Cavite warehouses tied to Vigor Global Logistics and a 200 million peso haul in Marilao, Bulacan.
He also flagged the case of Betron Consumer Goods Trading, which attempted to misdeclare containers of onions and carrots, yet was charged only under food safety laws rather than smuggling or economic sabotage.
Despite the passage of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act in 2024, Pangilinan said no “big-time” smugglers have been jailed, even as seizures of illegal goods reached P3.78-billion from January 2024 to July 2025.
At least 20 importers have been blacklisted, and the Department of Justice has reported a 92-percent improvement in prosecution rates, but Pangilinan said progress remains slow.
“The contraband has already been confiscated. We already have the names. No offense to our public officials who are doing their utmost, and no offense to the newly appointed Customs officials, but as the President once said about ghost projects in flood control: have some shame,” Pangilinan said.
Meanwhile, Tulfo questioned Bureau of Customs officials about their monitoring lapses, warning that allowing suspicious cargo to leave ports opens opportunities for collusion and tampering.
“You have a moral and social obligation in this country, and contraband should never be allowed to enter. It is considered illegal cargo. What if it were drugs? What if it were explosives? You have a responsibility,” Tulfo said.
Both senators urged authorities to finally convict major players, emphasizing that seizures alone will not stop syndicates from undermining local agriculture.
