A lawmaker and hog raiser asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to sign into law the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill, which the House of Representatives and the Senate passed.
“We have all heard about the government’s program for agriculture―the release of swine fever vaccines, and added irrigations, among others. But why this Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act was not mentioned by the President?” said AGAP Partylist Rep. Nicanor Briones in a press briefing Wednesday.
“This bill would protect farmers, fisherfolks, as well as livestock, and poultry raisers from the menace of agricultural smuggling, as well as its perpetrators such as cartels, saboteurs, and smugglers. We just want to know,” said Briones.
Senators approved Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2432 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill in December 2023, which repeals Republic Act No. 10845, otherwise known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.
The President saw the need to immediately pass the measure by certifying it as urgent in his SONA 2022, citing the rising prices of agricultural products caused by hoarding, smuggling, and other illegal activities.
Under the bill, the crime of agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage is committed when the value of each, or a combination of agricultural and fishery products smuggled by a person is at least P3 million using the daily price index computed at the time the crime was committed.
Private citizens can also file a case against profiteers, smugglers, and hoarders, as there are rewards for the tipster or whistleblower from P1 million to P20 million or 20 percent, whichever is higher.
The President said during his SONA “we mean serious business,” pertaining the government’s drive against smugglers.
Briones said these strong words would be futile if the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill would not be immediately enacted into law.
Briones was the principal sponsor of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act in the House of Representatives.
Briones said the bill was yet to be transmitted to the Office of the President.
The Senate ratified on May 22, 2024, the bicameral conference committee report on the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill, contemplating that someone or some groups are blocking the way for the bill from reaching the table of the President.
The President in his SONA also reported that with modernized customs procedures and heightened enforcement efforts, more than P2.7 billion worth of smuggled agri-fisheries products were seized by the government.
The President also declared that the government is bent on launching other measures to strengthen the drive against smuggling.
“Soon, we will be implementing the pre-border technical verification and cross-border electronic invoicing of import commodities. This will send a strong message that we mean serious business,” he said.
