‘Targets smugglers, hoarders, profiteers, cartel operators’ — Go
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council (AAESC) is strengthening its enforcement guidelines in a bid to catch the “big fish.”
Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs (SAPIEA) Frederick Go said the guidelines would focus on dismantling major syndicates and economic saboteurs that manipulate markets and unfairly drive up prices.
Go, who serves as President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s permanent representative to the council, said the guidelines were drawn up during a meeting in Malacanang on Wednesday.
Go said measures were approved to intensify the crackdown on smugglers, hoarders, profiteers, and cartel operators.
“Protecting consumers entails going after the root of the problem — large-scale economic saboteurs who distort our agricultural and fisheries markets,” Go said in a statement on Thursday.
The AAES Council was formed to enforce Republic Act 12022, which was signed into law in September 2024. The law imposes stiffer fines and penalties on those found to be engaged in economic sabotage.RA 12022 defines agricultural smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and its financing as economic sabotage.
Go said with the AAES Act now in effect and its enforcement mechanisms operational, the Council is well equipped to pursue offenders aggressively in pursuit of “stable food prices and a better quality of life for all Filipinos.”
The Council said it approved the operational protocols presented by the Department of Justice (DOJ), providing a structured framework for coordinated action against major market saboteurs.
The Council directed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to continue strengthening and maintaining the Daily Price Index (DPI), which serves as a tool for tracking prices and promoting market transparency.
The council committed to conducting regular audits and publicly disseminating the DPI to deter price manipulation.
The council added that together with the DA, it has set the guidelines for declaring “abnormal situations,” which would signal to the Council that an immediate response is required to address market disruptions triggered by economic sabotage or other supply chain issues.
The body also gave the green light to the Enforcement Group – composed of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Department of Finance (DOF) — to conduct its mandate in accordance with the approved Rules of Engagement.
The group, after notifying the Council, can, among other things, conduct a search, seizure, or an arrest for any violation of the AAES Act or existing regulations.
Meanwhile, the council said it has ensured that the DOJ-appointed special team of prosecutors is fully prepared to expedite the filing and resolution of cases under the AAES Act.
In addition, the council directed relevant agencies to advance two critical components of its enforcement mechanism – the full implementation of the National Single Window (NSW) system through the DOF, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Bureau of Customs (BOC), and ensuring readiness of storage facilities for goods that will be seized to ensure proper handling and disposition.
The law provides that violators would be fined up to five times the value of the agricultural products they smuggled or hoarded, in addition to the punishment of life imprisonment.
The council is composed of representatives from the Departments of Agriculture, Justice, Finance, Interior and Local Government, Transportation, Trade and Industry, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, and the Philippine Competition Commission.
