Senate passes tougher measures vs. agri-economic saboteurs

The Senate has approved, on the third and final reading, a bill imposing severe sanctions against smugglers, profiteers, hoarders, and cartels of agricultural and fishery products.

During a plenary session earlier this week, the Senate Bill 2432, or Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, was passed with 18 affirmative votes, zero negative votes, and no abstentions.

The bill, which seeks to repeal Republic Act 10845, otherwise known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, was among the priority measures certified as 'urgent' by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. amid the "rising prices of agricultural products caused by hoarding, smuggling, and other illegal activities."

SB 2432 defines the crime of agricultural economic sabotage as any act or activity that disrupts the economy by creating an artificial shortage, promoting excessive importation, manipulating prices and supply, evading payment or underpaying tariffs and customs duties, threatening local production and food security, gaining excessive or exorbitant profits by exploiting situations, creating scarcity, and entering into agreements that defeat fair competition to the prejudice of the public.

Under the measure, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council headed by the President shall be created—which will be composed of national government agencies and representatives from the agricultural sectors. All violations under the proposed measure will be under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeals.

Senator Cynthia Villar, who chairs the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform and sponsor of the measure, said severe penalties are needed to deter smuggling and abusive market practices which threaten the well-being of agricultural producers and the welfare of the consumers, and the economy of the country.

SB 2432 states that 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.

Considered agricultural smuggling includes importing or bringing into the Philippines agricultural and fishery products without the required import clearance from the regulatory agencies; using import clearance of persons other than those specifically named in the permit; using fake, false, fictitious, or fraudulent import clearance, shipping documents or any other transport documentation; selling, lending, leasing, assigning, consenting to or allowing the use of import clearance of corporations, non-government organizations, associations, cooperatives, partnerships, or single proprietorships by other persons.

Other violations include the misclassification, undervaluation, or misdeclaration upon the filing of import entry declaration or transport documentation with the Bureau of Customs to evade the payment of correct taxes and duties due the government; organizing or using dummy corporations, non-government organizations, associations, cooperatives, partnerships, or single proprietorships to acquire import clearance; knowingly transporting or storing smuggled agricultural and fishery products; acting as a broker of the importer; or allowing the use of a private port, fish port, fish landing site, resort, and/or airport to perpetrate economic sabotage.

Meanwhile, agricultural hoarding as economic sabotage is committed by a person or combination of persons by having stocks of agricultural and fishery products over thirty 30 percent of their normal inventory level two weeks after the declaration of an abnormal situation by the council, or an emergency or state of calamity declared by the competent authority.

Agricultural profiteering can be considered economic sabotage if each agricultural and fishery product is at a price at least ten (10) percent over the daily price index at the time of the declaration of an abnormal situation.

Those who committed agricultural smuggling, agricultural hoarding, agricultural profiteering, and engaging in cartels will be punished with life imprisonment and a fine thrice the value of the smuggled items.