Crush agri-smuggling gangs now: BOC urged to get tough and send ring members to jail

Photo from the Bureau of Customs

MANILA, Philippines — At least two legislators have asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to file non-bailable and tough cases against agricultural smugglers as groups warned there are still people illegally moving food products into the country.

Senator JV Ejercito said smuggling rings must be destroyed by filing economic sabotage charges against them because their illicit activities affect local farmers and industries, particularly onion growers.

“Dapat nang buwagin at matauhan ang mga grupo na ito. Sampahan natin sila ng economic sabotage charges dahil walang bail ito. Nakakapinsala na sila sa kabuhayan ng ating mga kababayang magsasaka,” the senator said in a statement Monday.

(We should dismantle these groups and bring them back to reality. Let us file economic sabotage charges because that is non-bailable. They are already damaging the livelihood of Filipino farmers.)

“As the principal author of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, nakalulungkot itong balita na marami pa ring agri smuggler na nag-o-operate sa ating bansa. It’s been six to seven years since the law was passed, ngunit parang nabalewala lang ang batas,” he added.

(As the principal author of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, news that many agricultural smugglers are still operating in the country is saddening. It’s been six to seven years since the law was passed, but it seems that the law was simply ignored.)

Similarly, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap has urged the BOC to send smugglers to jail by filing solid cases against them to send a stern message to these groups circumventing the law.

According to Yap, P20.193 million worth of agricultural products that could have found their way to local markets had been intercepted by authorities.

He added that even more than this amount is the estimated loss of farmers who worked hard to plant, harvest, and bring agricultural produce to the dinner tables of Filipinos.

“Hindi na pwede na puro huli na lang ang nababalitaan natin, pero walang napapakulong? Wala pa rin smuggler na nako-convict kahit patuloy at harap-harapan na silang illigal na nagpapasok ng agri products sa bansa. They’re not even trying to conceal these shipments anymore. Why? Wala naman kasing napapakulong,” Yap said in a statement also released Monday.

(It can no longer be that we only hear about news of arrests, but no one gets jailed. Still, no smuggler has been convicted even though they continue illegally bringing agri products into the country. They’re not even trying to conceal these shipments anymore. Why? No one is being sent to jail.)

Ejercito and Yap’s remarks came after the Department of Agriculture confirmed last December 4 that more than 100 metric tons of smuggled onions that were misdeclared as bread and pastries were seized at the Manila International Container Port.

The said cargo is valued at P30 million.

The following day, P2 million worth of smuggled onions were confiscated by BOC in Tondo, Manila, as it was illegally imported.

Then on December 6, the BOC said they were able to seize smuggled carrots and onions from China in Subic that were originally declared as assorted food items.

Agricultural groups like the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) have exposed similar smuggling attempts, adding that new smugglers are not included in the list sent to the Senate.

Such groups fear that smuggling would harm the local industry, as these items would be sold at a lower price while local products would remain expensive. Groups also pointed out that smuggled agricultural products did not go through quality checks by government authorities.

READ: Smuggled white onions deemed unsafe, won’t be sold via Kadiwa

Ejercito said that since large-scale smuggling has been classified as a heinous crime, all that is left to do is to implement the law.

“We passed the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling law, classifying large-scale agricultural smuggling as a heinous crime and an economic sabotage. But we are focused on imports. If not smuggled, we are doing excessive importation of products,” he said.

“Our aim is to improve needed revenues for the significant programs. It is important to monitor the modernization program because smuggling is still prevalent in different parts of the country,” Ejercito added.

KGA/abc