Press Release - Villar, Cyntia: Senate approves tougher measure against agricultural economic saboteurs

The Senate on Monday, December 11, 2023 passed on third and final reading a bill imposing severe sanctions against smugglers, profiteers, hoarders and cartels of agricultural and fishery products.

Voting 18-0-0, senators approved Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2432 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act. The bill repeals Republic Act No. 10845, otherwise known as the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. saw the need to immediately pass the measure by certifying it as urgent, citing the rising prices of agricultural products caused by hoarding, smuggling and other illegal activities.

The bill defines the crime of agricultural economic sabotage as any act or activity that disrupts the economy by creating artificial shortage, promoting excessive importation, manipulating prices and supply, evading payment or underpaying tariffs and customs duties, threatening local production and food security, gaining excessive or exorbitant profits by exploiting situations, creating scarcity, and entering into agreements that defeat fair competition to the prejudice of the public.

The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council headed by the President shall be created composed of national government agencies and representatives from the agricultural sectors. It shall also create the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group.

Violations of this Act shall be under the jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeals.

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform and sponsor of the measure, said severe penalties are needed to deter smuggling and abusive market practices which threaten the well-being of agricultural producers and welfare of the consumers, and the economy as a whole.

The following agricultural and fishery products are covered under the bill: rice, corn, beef and other ruminants, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, other vegetables, fruits, fish, salt and other aquatic products, in their raw state or which have undergone the simple process of preparation or preservation for the market within the primary and post-harvest stages of the food supply chain, palm oil, palm olein, raw