This photo shows the turnover of the confiscated P178.5 million worth of frozen mackerel to the Department of Agriculture (DA) at the Manila International Container Port on Saturday, December 14, 2024, with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2nd from left), DA Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel (2nd from right), Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla (left) and Bureau of Customs chief Bienvenido Rubio (right). (Photo from the Bureau of Customs)
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday ordered the Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) to strictly implement the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act or Republic Act No. 12022.
According to Marcos, the chain enabling smugglers to continue profiting from people must be broken.
“I’ve spoken to our Bureau of Customs, and I’ve spoken to the Department of Agriculture and we have to keep going. We need to strengthen this further,” Marcos said in a statement.
This came after Marcos led the turnover of the seized frozen mackerel worth P178.5 million to the Department of Agriculture.
The frozen goods arrived at the Manila International Container Port last September 28 and 29 without the necessary permits from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
READ: BOC: Seized P178.5-million frozen mackerel to benefit 150,000 families
Marcos also noted that the smuggling of 21 containers of frozen mackerel marked the first instance under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.
The law categorizes smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel operations as acts of sabotage and are subject to non-bailable offenses punishable by life imprisonment.
“The key to this was coordination between the different agencies. That’s always the most important because the different agencies were all working together, all the way up to the end,” Marcos added.
Marcos then expressed optimism on the continued operations against smugglers of agricultural products.
“We need to control, we need to supervise our food supply,” he said.
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