Passage of bill vs agri sabotage pushed

SEN. Cynthia Villar pressed for the passage of the proposed Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law to stop the middlemen and traders from manipulating the supply and prices of basic food items such as rice.

«We should urgently pass the Anti Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law to control the middlemen and traders from causing hardship to the farmers and the consumers,» the chairman of the Committee on Agriculture said in a statement.

She said the National Food Authority (NFA) plays a vital role in ensuring food security and stability by managing the supply and distribution of rice.

Sen. Cynthia Villar. File Photo

Senate Bill (SB) 2432 or the proposed Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act was passed in December 2023. The House of Representatives (HoR) has also passed its version.

The Senate and HoR on March 20 conducted a preliminary bicameral conference for the bill.

SB 2432 imposes «severe sanctions» against any one involved in smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel of agricultural and fishery products.

Advertisement

The bill serves as «a self-preservation measure against the manipulative scheme of economic saboteurs, protect the livelihood of farmers, and plug leakages in tax and duty collection,» Villar said.

«It also protects the State from tax evaders and non-payers of duties, and ensures the well-being of our agricultural producers and welfare of the consumers, and the economy as a whole,» she said.

The senator said the NFA should focus on the acquisition, maintenance, and distribution of rice for buffer stocking sourced from local farmers and for calamity assistance. The agency has a yearly budget of P9 billion for local procurement.