The Philippines’ Senate and the House of Representatives ratified the reconciled version of the “Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act” to crack down on smuggling, profiteering, hoarding and cartels involving agricultural and fishery products.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had certified the bill as urgent, seeking to “promote agricultural productivity, protect farmers and fisherfolk from unscrupulous traders and importers, and ensure reasonable and affordable prices for consumers.”
The law classifies smuggling of agricultural and fishery products, including manufactured tobacco, worth at least P3 million ($54,545) as economic sabotage. This carries a penalty of life imprisonment, a non-bailable offense and a fine three times the value of the smuggled goods.
The sale of tobacco products below the minimum retail price set by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the National Tobacco Administration (NTA) will also be penalized.
Mere possession of smuggled goods will be considered prima facie evidence of agricultural smuggling, automatically classifying it as economic sabotage.
Lawmakers see the legislation as crucial in the fight against illicit trade, protecting the agricultural sector and ensuring fair market practices.
Senator Jose Victor Ejercito, the main author, said the law would offer hope and a brighter future to Filipino farmers.
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said, “we want to send a chilling effect on these cartels that have been operating for decades now.”
“We really mean business this time. And our primary task here is to protect the welfare of the masses – provide them with the most affordable goods in the market,” Romualdez said.
Ejercito said the bill would “level the playing field for our local farmers” and “purge our land of profiteers, hoarders and cartels,” which he coined as “the pests who are choking our agricultural sector.”
“This bill will uproot them and put them in jail where they belong,” Ejercito said.
Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said at least P200 billion in revenues every year was lost due to smuggling and that it is one of the reasons farmers continue to live in poverty. “The illegal entry of agricultural products threatens their livelihood and the welfare of two-thirds of our population who depend on agriculture,” Villar said.