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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Hontiveros: Congress should penalize gov't officials involved in 'acts of smuggling'  

Hontiveros: Congress should penalize gov't officials involved in 'acts of smuggling'  

Published May 19, 2023 04:53 am
Congress should move to pass laws that would punish government officials who are involved in the facilitation of smuggling of agricultural products.    Similar to the country’s anti-trafficking laws, Senator Risa Hontiveros said it is high-time that government officials who facilitate, conspire or act as an accomplice in any form of agricultural smuggling be also punished.   Hontiveros made the call during the Senate Committee on Agriculture’s  Thursday’s hearing into Senate Bill No. 2205, one of the bills under consideration by the panel.   The senator said that when she discovered the irregularities and the unfolding developments in the release of 440,000 metric tons of sugar shipment from three favored sugar importers ahead of the issuance of Sugar Order No. 6, she immediately knew the possible gaps in the implementation of Republic Act no. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016.   “At ito ay ang walang kaparusahan sa mga opisyales ng pamahalaan na tumulong sa mga agricultural smuggler at ginamit ang kanilang opisina para mag-angkat ng agricultural commodities na hindi dumaan sa legal na proseso (And this is the lack of penalties for government officials who helped agricultural smugglers and used their office to import agricultural commodities without going through the legal process),” Hontiveros said during the hearing facilitated by Sen. Cynthia Villar.   “Of course, they do not go scot-free because we have Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, but given the gravity of agricultural smuggling and its far-reaching consequences, it seems to me that we also need to punish government officials who allow these acts,” she said.   “In our anti-trafficking law, of which the Chair is also an author, we punish the facilitation of trafficking by public officials as acts of trafficking, sa anti-smuggling laws din natin, nararapat din siguro na we punish the facilitation of smuggling as acts of smuggling,” added the lawmaker.   In her Senate Bill No. 2205, Hontiveros stated the need to prosecute and put to jail state officials who are involved in agricultural smuggling under RA 10845 “given the gravity” of the act and it’s “far-reaching consequences.”   “Agricultural smuggling is costing the government billions of pesos a year in lost revenues. Smuggling of regulated agricultural commodities has also led to high prices for consumers, the violation of our competition laws, and most importantly, the further decline of our domestic agricultural sector,” Hontiveros stated in her bill . “It is time to hold to account government officials who allow smuggling to persist unfettered,” she added.   

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Sugar importation Senator Risa Hontiveros agricultural smuggling
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