Onions (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)



The House of Representatives will hasten the passage of the proposed amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act upon the start of the second regular session of the 19th Congress later this month. Thus, promised House Speaker Martin Romualdez in a statement Thursday, July 6, as he said that congressmen would "immediately buckle down to work". The measure is among the 20 bills slated for approval by Congress before year's end during the second Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting presided over by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in Malacanang on Wednesday, July 5. “The inclusion of this measure among the LEDAC priority legislation manifests the commitment of Congress to support President Marcos’ drive against unfair business practices that hurt consumers and local farmers alike, but also derail the administration’s efforts to attain food security,” Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district representative, said. President Marcos had earlier ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the smuggling, hoarding, and price manipulation of onion and other agricultural commodities. This was on the strength of the findings of the House Committee Agriculture and Food, which after a lengthy inquiry identified businesswoman Lillia Cruz alias "Leah Cruz" and her family-controlled firm as the key players of the alleged onion cartel. It was Romualdez himself who called for the congressional probe on alleged hoarding, price fixing, and smuggling of onion after prices of the agricultural commodity reached an absurd P700 per kilo in December 2022. “Enactment of this measure will institutionalize and improve mechanisms, as well as provide more stringent penalties that would serve as a strong deterrent against smuggling of agricultural products, including onion,' he said, referring to the proposed revisions to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act. Of the 20 LEDAC bills identified Wednesday, the House has already passed on third and final reading 16 of them during the first regular session. The second regular session will begin on July 24.