‘The truth is we have a surfeit of laws against smuggling… government’s failure is in the implementation.’

JUST like the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, it was Senate President Francis Escudero who announced that President Bongbong Marcos     will sign another law passed by the Senate, in a scheduled signing ceremony in Malacañang today.

This new legislation will be called the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, said Escudero, adding the measure will make food more affordable and accessible to many Filipinos and provide better income for local farmers and fisherfolk.

We may add, too, that because this is an anti-smuggling law, it has the potential of shoring up the revenues collected by the Bureau of Customs for the government. That is, if the law is implemented honestly and efficiently.

Escudero and Speaker Martin Romualdez are happy they have passed one of the priority measures of the Marcos administration. They tout this law as the ONE measure that will give more teeth to government efforts to run after smugglers whose illegal activities are hurting farmers, fisherfolk, and consumers.

Under the new law, agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, cartel, and financing these crimes are classified as acts of economic sabotage and thus carry a penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of three times the value of agricultural and fishery products involved in the crime.

For acts that aid in the commission of agricultural economic sabotage, such as transport and storage of smuggled goods, the penalty imposed will be 20 years to 30 years jail term and a fine of twice the value of the agricultural and fishery products involved in the crime.

Escudero has high hopes that this legislation would stop or greatly decrease the illegal activities of smugglers, hoarders, and profiteers who “have long served as a monkey wrench to our efforts toward attaining food security.”

The Senate chief said the legislative measure would send a strong message that the government will use all its resources to fight groups who engage in smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and other illicit practices.

By cracking down on smugglers, the public would be protected from the influx and proliferation of sub-standard goods and those unfit for human consumption.

These are all very good, except that eight years ago, President Noynoy Aquino signed Republic Act 10845, an “Act declaring large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage, prescribing penalties therefor and for other purposes.” The upcoming legislation is basically just a reiteration of this Aquino anti-smuggling law, with perhaps more stringent penalties if the smuggler or hoarder is caught.

The truth is we have a surfeit of laws against smuggling, be they about food, agricultural products or manufactured commodities. The government’s failure is in the implementation.

We remember that the Senate under then Senate President Tito Sotto, and this current House of Representatives, have identified the names of big-time smugglers of rice, sugar, onion and other agricultural products in committee hearings. Sultan Kudarat Rep. Horacio Suansing Jr. named them last year at a hearing of the House way and means committee. Nothing has been heard about this since.

Need we say more?