MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Justice must speed up the filing of non-bailable charges of economic sabotage against agricultural smugglers taking advantage of the increased consumer demand during the Christmas holidays.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito made the call yesterday after a farmers’ group warned the government that more than 20 smugglers are now bringing in white and red onions, rice and frozen meat products to the Philippines.
“Let us please dismantle these groups and charge them with economic sabotage because this is non-bailable,” Ejercito said.
He said as principal author of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, it is disheartening that agricultural smugglers continue to proliferate.
“It’s been six to seven years since the law was passed, but it seems to be useless,” he said.
Jayson Cainglet, executive director of the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), told a hearing at the Senate that onion smugglers are wreaking havoc on local farmers, dumping the produce directly to markets big and small.
SINAG president Rosendo So said there are numerous new smugglers not included in the list of agricultural smugglers previously submitted to the Senate.
The group is currently working with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and BOC in pressing economic sabotage charges against individuals involved in bringing in P30 million worth of smuggled white onions recently confiscated at the Manila International Container Port.
Ejercito said the government should fully implement the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act to address the rampant smuggling of agricultural produce.
He blasted DA officials for failing to implement the measure and promoting excessive importation, which continues to harm small farmers.
Earlier in the day, Ejercito joined Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the ways and means committee, in visiting the BOC to inspect its modernization program.
He said the BOC’s modernization efforts should be geared toward curbing agricultural smuggling and addressing the alleged widespread corruption within the agency.
‘Go after smugglers’
Meanwhile, Senate committee on agriculture chairperson Sen. Cynthia Villar said that instead of going after small-time public vendors of pink salmon and pampano, authorities should track down importers illegally bringing frozen fish into the country.
During yesterday’s public hearing, Villar questioned the projection of the government, particularly the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to confiscate frozen pink salmon and pampano from public markets.
“Why would you go after vendors, instead of importers? They (illegal importers) should be punished,” Villar said.
BFAR is currently reviewing its earlier decision to ban the sale of frozen fish in the markets. The bureau issued fisheries administrative order 195 in 1999, providing the importation of such fish but only for canning and processing as well as restaurant and hotel uses.
“We have already been implementing since enactment in 1999, but recently we received reports there is a lot of illegal fish diverted in the wet market,” BFAR officer in charge Demosthenes Escoto said.
Villar asked Escoto why they are punishing the small-time market vendors when they should be looking for the illegal importer or smuggler. “Never a wet market vendor, that’s just a simple person. They didn’t understand that policy,” she said.
She stressed that she had read all the documents on importation issued by the BFAR and the importation of salmon and pampano was not included in the permit.
“Where did that come from? Don’t penalize the poor market vendors. Penalize the rich smugglers,” Villar said.
Also during yesterday’s hearing, senators learned that importers of frozen pampano and pink salmon are only paying an import processing fee of P1,800 without tax and are even exempted from value-added tax.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo said “P1,870 holy moly, the government only earns P1,800, then sold at a very high price to restaurants and hotels.”
“The importer suddenly gets rich. You (BFAR) should have approached to increase that tax. Impose higher taxes on them,” Tulfo said.
“Even one million containers of fish, these importers are getting it for free? It seems we are in the wrong business, I should have been an importer of fish, I only pay 1,800 and then get a huge income,” he added. – Cecille Suerte Felipe