By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, A reporter
PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Thursday signed into law a measure that classifies agricultural trafficking, collection, profiteering, and financing of these crimes as acts of economic destruction.
But experts say the law could be futile in a country notorious for failing to catch big-time criminals, adding that having a local economy designed to meet the needs of local agriculture is a deterrent to smuggling.
The law will enter the books as Republic Act No. 12022, the Agrarian Economy Deregulation Act.
Under this law, violators may face a fine of up to five times the value of the smuggled or collected agricultural products and face life imprisonment, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.
The law considers smuggling and hoarding of agricultural food products as economic destruction if the value of the goods exceeds P10 million, the statement said.
“Creating cartels and financing smugglers and hoarders will also be seen as destroying the economy.”
Agriculture stakeholders in August registered their opposition to the final text of the bill after the bicameral congressional committee increased the amount of agricultural smuggling as economic damage to P10 million from P3 million.
“Due to such an increase, the entry of seven containers of smuggled rice, four boxes of smuggled vegetables and fruits, two boxes full of smuggled chicken, or one shipping container full of smuggled pork products will no longer qualify as economic destruction,” said the letter written to Mr. Marcos.
“Despite the illegal entry of such a large amount of agricultural products, we will probably not be able to punish these smugglers with the heavy sentence of life in prison imposed by this bill,” they said.
“Therefore, its effect in preventing agricultural smuggling is greatly reduced.”
The presidential palace has yet to release a copy of the signed law, but a government brochure distributed at the signing ceremony said the law’s penalties aim to “protect the economy, preserve fair competition, and ensure the welfare of producers.”
It said the law “gives jurisdiction” to cases in the Court of Tax Appeals.
Senate President Francis Joseph G. Escudero said in a statement that the law punishes those who commit acts that contribute to the destruction of the agricultural economy – such as the transportation and storage of contraband – with 20 to 30 years in prison. and a fine twice the value of agricultural and fishery products.
This law affects agricultural and fishery products such as rice, corn, beef and other livestock, pork, chicken, onions, garlic, carrots and other vegetables, according to the government.
Products covered by the law include palm oil, palm olein, raw and refined sugar, tobacco, fruits, salt, fish and other aquatic products in their raw state or that have undergone a simple process of preparation or market preservation within the original base. and post-harvest stages of the food supply chain.
THE ‘TAKING’ OF THE NEW LAW
Former Secretary of Agriculture, Leonardo Q. Montemayor said that although the new law was much better than the Agricultural Trafficking Act of 2016 in terms of its expanded terms of inclusion and enforcement, there are still weaknesses including the “exclusion of farmers and producers” as always. members of the Council for the Destruction of the Agricultural Economy.
The council will be chaired by the President or a fully appointed representative.
Its members include the heads of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Justice, Department of Finance (DoF), Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Transport, Department of Trade and Industry, Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Philippines. Competition Commission.
A bi-national conference committee in August nominated seven representatives from the agricultural sector as regular members of the Council. Instead, they will be part of an advisory body that will only be called upon whenever needed.
Under the revised version of the bill, the DoF was included as a member of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group, a move that goes against the call of agricultural stakeholders to prevent the Bureau of Customs (BoC) from having a role in the enforcement team.
In their letter to the President in August, the stakeholders said the inclusion of the DoF “effectively defeats the purpose of strengthening the mechanisms of checks and balances in the BoC.”
They said the enforcement team should remain an independent agency and be limited to law enforcement agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, and the Philippine Coast Guard.
Mr. Escudero in his statement said that chasing smugglers will also mean closing the leakage of money to the government.
“This law will also result in improved collection by our collection agencies, which will translate into the delivery of many needs to our people.”
The former Secretary of Agriculture, William D. Dar, said that there should be no political considerations when this law is introduced.”
“The law was made to be more effective with severe punishments including all the ways of the government and the President who is the chairman of the Council,” he said on Viber.
Federation of Free Farmers National Director Raul Q. Montemayor said the higher penalties under the new law “will not help if we cannot catch and prosecute so-called smugglers and hoarders.”
“This is what happened under the old law,” he said in a Viber message.
The Marcos administration largely blamed the rise in prices of agricultural commodities on smuggling and money laundering.
Inflation in the Philippines eased to 3.3% last month, slower than the 4.4% rate in July, due to moderate increases in food prices and lower transportation costs.
Inflation of rice, which has been a concern for the whole country for the past months, decreased to 14.7% from 20.9% in July and 22.5% in June. Nevertheless, it remained the main contributor to inflation at 3.3% in August, which was within the government’s target of 2%-4%.
Last week, authorities flagged more than 800 vans carrying rice that were found sitting in the port of Manila.
888 container vans carried 23,000 tons of imported rice or 0.75% of the total amount that entered the country this year.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. recently he said that most of the containers are still within the 30 days of stay allowed by the ports, citing the statement of the Philippine Ports Authority on Monday that more than 300 containers have been counted by the consignees.
DOMESTIC GROWTH
“The issue of smuggling can be easily solved if the local economy could provide for the needs of the people,” said Leonardo A. Lanzona, professor of economics at Ateneo de Manila University.
“Smuggling is very profitable because we don’t produce most of our agricultural products,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
The Philippines is highly vulnerable to foreign inflation as it imports most of its food. Imports of agriculture in 2023 reached $ 17.92 billion.
To prevent food inflation, Mr. Marcos earlier this year issued an executive order that reduced the tax on imported rice to 15%.
“The reduction in prices should have made smuggling less profitable. Overall, if smuggling remains an issue, the only way to solve it is to increase domestic production,” said Mr. That’s it.
“Government money is better used in subsidizing farmers than establishing these councils.”
In my opinion, the success of this new law depends a lot on the governance and trust of those who are tasked to implement it,” said the Executive Director of the University of Asia and Pacific (UA&P) Center for Food and Agribusiness, Marie Annette Galvez-Dacul. Viber message.
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