Senate President Vicente Sotto III called for an investigation into the continued smuggling of agricultural products, including sugar, as he stressed the crucial role played by the agriculture sector in stabilizing the country’s economy.
In a privileged speech Dec. 7, Sotto said his office has been monitoring press releases issued by the Bureau of Customs on its anti-smuggling operations from May 2021 to November 18, 2021.
“We documented 25 operations amounting to approximately P1 billion,” he said, adding that smuggled frozen meats, high value agricultural food, garlic, onions, sugar, frozen mackerel and tuna, carrots, ginger, and other fruit and vegetable products were declared as pastry ingredients, glucose syrups, mantou buns, or were misdeclared in terms of their true weight or quantity beyond the allowable importation limits as set forth by law.
“If we are to base the efficacy of our fight against smuggling on the press releases of the BOC, it seems like we are on top of the issue. But the big problem is, mukhang hanggang PR lang talaga ang pagsugpo sa agricultural products smuggling,” Sotto said as he urged his colleagues to check the efficacy, or lack of it, of the BOC operations against the smuggling of agricultural products.
As legislators, we strive to pass laws to modernize the agricultural sector in the hopes of uplifting the lives of our farmers…But all these efforts are futile if smuggling and corruption continue to reign, killing and destroying our local agriculture industry and robbing our farmers a decent living, he added.
Sotto cited provisions of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, or Republic Act 10845, which categorized as economic sabotage the large-scale smuggling of agricultural products amounting to less than P1 million, or a minimum of P10 million in the case of rice.
“This is a call for the Senate to exercise its oversight function and look into these matters,” he said in a press release. “Hindi lang pandemya ang pinaka mabigat na kalaban ngayon kung hindi korupsyon. Some have said that ‘the biggest disease is corruption.’ Ito ang tuluy-tuloy na nagpapahirap sa ating lahat.”
Sotto said Customs personnel proven to be conniving with smugglers should be made accountable under the law and sentenced to a lifetime in jail and ordered to pay a fine twice the fair value of their smuggled agricultural product and the aggregate taxes, duties and other charges avoided by the smuggler.
“Corrupt practices committed by certain individuals have far-reaching consequences that affect our farmers, business sectors and ultimately the Filipino consumers. These importations significantly impact production, stock availability and stability of prices,” he said.
No matter how we try to elevate the state of our agricultural sector to enable them to produce enough and provide for the whole nation, we will never achieve our agricultural independence because some scrupulous individuals are in cahoots with the smugglers. Port congestion, red tape, kotong, and under-the-table arrangements are just some issues in the Bureau of Customs that are burdening the businesses and weakens the business climate in our country, the Senate President added. | NND
