ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Agri-smugglers to get life imprisonment in House panel-approved bill

Agri-smugglers to get life imprisonment in House panel-approved bill

Published Sep 20, 2023 04:31 pm

At A Glance

  • Individuals found to have committed agricultural smuggling will be meted the penalty of life imprisonment under a measure approved Wednesday, Sept. 20 by the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.

Screenshot_20230921-001550_Messenger.jpgQuezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga (Contributed photo)

 

 

 

 

 

Individuals found to have committed agricultural smuggling will be meted the penalty of life imprisonment under a measure approved Wednesday, Sept. 20 by the House Committee on Agriculture and Food 

Approved by the Quezon 1st district Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga-led panel durimg a public hearing was a yet to be numbered substitute bill seeking amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, or Republic Act (RA) No.10845. 

Enverga detailed in an interview after the hearing just how more serious the penalty for agricultural smuggling would be if the measure gets enacted. 

"Uniform na po siya [na economic sabotage], so for smuggling, hoarding, cartelizing, and profiteering. So of course, the most guilty person dito, ang mahuhulihan po nito, is life imprisonment. So medyo higher yung penalties po natin," he said. 

(Economic sabotage is now uniform for smuggling, hoarding, cartelizing, and profiteering. So of course, the most guilty person who will get caught will get life imprisonment. The penalties are quite higher.) 

He says the maximum penalty under the current law is a 30 to 40-year jail term. 

The measure is among the 20 identified by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) that's slated for approval on thrid and final reading by the House of Representatives before year's end.

The Quezon solon hopes the bill can get passed on second reading in plenary this week.

 

Enverga says the substitute bill also tasks the Department of Justice (DOJ) to create a special procsecution team. "Tututok lamang sa mga kasong may kinakaman dito sa economic sabotage (It will only focus on cases involving economic sabotage." 

The measure also allows the filing of charges by the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and National Bureau of Investgation ( NBI). Originally, only the Bureau of Customs (BOC) can pursue cases. 

The bill also requires traders to register with the DA and submit inventory figures monthly. 

House Speaker Martin Romualdez instructed the congressmen to pursue amendments to RA No.10845 as an offshoot of the Enverga panel's very revealing--and lengthy--inquiry on the onion price surge. 

 

Related Tags

wilfrido mark enverga economic sabotage agricultural smuggling
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.