Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday, April 12 asked why no one has been jailed for agricultural smuggling despite the big volume of smuggled goods being intercepted by the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Villar, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee, asked the question Tuesday, April 12 durign the hybrid public hearing by the Senate Committee of the Whole chaired by Senate President Vicente Sotto III on the unabated smuggling of agricultural produce into the country’s ports.
She cited Republic Act (RA) 10845, or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, which declared large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage.
Villar said that under the law, smuggling P10 million worth of rice and P1 million worth of other agricultural products such as sugar, corn, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, fish, and cruciferous vegetables are considered economic sabotage, which is a non-bailable offense.
“How come we have not heard anyone being jailed considering the huge volume of agricultural products that are being intercepted?” Villar asked.
Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Charlie Guhit told the committee that some of the cases were still pending, either for reinvestigation or arraignment.