Department of Agriculture (DA) and Bureau of Customs (BOC) officials should give premium on arresting big-time smugglers and not punishing ordinary Filipinos grappling with the soaring prices of agricultural products in the Philippines.

Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito pointed this out on Monday, January 16 during the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reformhearing on the exorbitant prices of onions in the market.

Ejercito said the amount of undocumented onions and fruits recently confiscated from 10 crew members of Philippine Airlines (PAL) is nothing compared to the amount of agricultural goods being smuggled into the country by major cartels.

“The PAL crew brought home gifts for personal consumption. Before, apples, grapes, perfumes, shoes are the usual souvenirs. Now, onions are the preferred take home souvenirs for family members. So this is already a cause of alert),” Ejercito said in mixed Filipino and English during the hearing.

“Two kilograms, one kilogram (of onions), with a value of $100 dollars to $150 dollars. But millions can sneak due to smuggling? We punish these people, but we allow those big-time cartel, smugglers, protectors to go scot-free?” he pointed out.

Customs authorities recently issued a memorandum, stating that more than 11 kilos of onions and around six kilos of onions of lemon with a combined value of $100 were confiscated from PAL crew members of Flight PR 655 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The said crew members would be charged with violating the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and the Plant Quarantine Decree of 1978.

Ejercito lamented the failure of agriculture and customs officials to fully implement the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, which he principally authored during his first term in the Senate.

“As authors, it’s not easy to pass laws. The Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law was designed to protect our farmers, everyone. From rice, sugar, onions, garlic—everything. But six years after its enactment, no single big-time smuggler have been arrested or put behind bars,” Ejercito pointed out.

Sen. Imee Marcos, for her part, believes the soaring retail price of onions in the country is a result of poor planning on the part of the DA.

Marcos pointed out that the shortage of onion supply in the country could’ve been averted if the DA made a “timely” and “well-projected” minimal importation.

“The price of onions had taken us on this mad roller coaster ride during the last few months. It is apparent that there is an abject lack of planning (on the part of DA),” Marcos said. (With Mario Casayuran)