The joint Senate Committees on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, Justice and Human Rights, Finance, Ways and Means has approved a bill that would define the crimes of agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel as economic sabotage.

Once enacted into law, the said bill would repeal Republic Act No. 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016 and shall be known as the "Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act."

The joint committees released its report regarding Senate Bill No. 2431 which sought to define the crimes of agricultural economic sabotage.

For Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, it's important to include smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel as economic sabotage since it will cause price manipulations and farmers will be unduly disadvantaged.

"The people will have a very difficult time, especially the farmers. Not to mention the case of biosecurity, yung mga cocolisap, African Swine Flu (ASF), galing yun sa (they are from) smuggled agri-products," Zubiri said.

"If we strengthen the anti-smuggling efforts of the government, that's also biosecurity for the country," he added.

The crimes of agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel as economic sabotage are committed when the value of each agricultural and fishery product subject to the crime is at least P1,000,000, based on the Daily Price Index, computed at the time the crime was committed.

The proposed measure defines smuggling as importing agricultural and fishery products without the required import clearance; using import clearance of other persons; misclassification, undervaluation, or mis-declaration; organizing or using dummy corporations, non-government organizations, associations, cooperatives, partnerships, or single proprietorships for the purpose of acquiring import clearance.

Hoarding is defined as undue accumulation and unreasonable refusal in the face of an existing shortage of products, artificial or real by a person or combination of persons to dispose of, sell, or distribute such products to the general public.

Prima facie evidence of hoarding, according to the measure is when someone has stocks of said products 30 percent higher than his usual inventory.

Profiteering is referred to as the sale or offering for sale of the products at a price grossly in excess of their true worth, as indicated in the Daily Price Index in the face of an existing shortage or emergency, artificial or real.

Cartel as a crime is committed by any combination of or agreement between two or more persons engaged in the production, manufacture, processing, storage, supply, distribution, marketing, sale, or disposition of any agricultural and fishery products designed to artificially and unreasonably increase or manipulate its price.

Those who would violate the measure will face a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine thrice the value of the agricultural and fishery products subject to the crime as economic sabotage.

According to Sen. Cynthia Villar, they will also create an anti-smuggling and cartel court. She said that before, cases regarding this were referred to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) but Villar mentioned, however, that the Supreme Court (SC) has allowed the creation of a court in accordance with the proposed measure.

"At saka tinanggal na namin ang (We removed the) power to file cases sa (from) Bureau of Customs (BOC), iba na ang agency ang magfifile ng cases, hindi na BOC, kasi parang tingin ko may (a different agency will file the cases, not BOC, because I think there is) conflict of interest," she added.

Zubiri said that they will try to pass the measure into law before the session break and if not, by Christmas.