PBBM signs into law Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act

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Transcript

00:00Smugglers who slip their products and sell them illegally in the country deprive government

00:05of billions each year in taxes slash revenues, a whopping $3 billion in agricultural products

00:11alone last year.

00:12Now throw in essential food items and produce hoarded for quite some time to jack up prices.

00:18What we have is the fleecing of government and the Filipino people.

00:23So the president and government is fighting back with a new piece of legislation with

00:28teeth and stiffer penalties to put them out of business as our Claisel Pardilla reports.

00:37President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed into law the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage

00:42Act.

00:43The new legislation seeks to protect local farmers, fishermen, and consumers from illegal

00:49activities including the smuggling of agricultural products and manipulating supply and prices.

00:55It also targets hoarders who restrict supply, those engaged in profiteering during crisis,

01:02as well as cartels by imposing heavier penalties to these unscrupulous individuals.

01:08Under this law, smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel operations involving agricultural

01:15and fishery products will now be classified as economic sabotage, a non-bailable offense

01:22punishable by life imprisonment, and fines up to five times the value of the goods involved.

01:29In 2023, the government lost three billion pesos due to agricultural smuggling.

01:35Over the past nine months, authorities seized around 230 million pesos worth of smuggled

01:42agricultural products.

01:44These illegal goods often come without proper taxes, resulting in significant revenue losses

01:50for the government.

01:52Additionally, local farmers and fishermen are severely disadvantaged, unable to compete

01:58with the cheaper but illegal products flooding the market.

02:02The public's health is also at risk, as many of the smuggled items bypass sanitary permits

02:08and safety regulations.

02:11Every sack of smuggled rice, every under-the-table onion deal, every substandard meat sneaking

02:19past the quarantine checks, these are not just numbers.

02:23They represent lives, families, and futures that are being compromised.

02:28These crimes threaten not only our economy, but our national security as well.

02:33It jeopardizes the livelihood of hardworking Filipino farmers and fisherfolk, and it threatens

02:39the food sustainability of our communities.

02:43But that will end with a new law, which was conceived to go after masterminds and those

02:48aiding and abetting them.

02:50This law does not just target the masterminds.

02:53It holds all accomplices accountable, financiers, brokers, employees, even transporters.

03:00We are establishing the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council, which I will chair.

03:06An Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group will be established to identify and

03:11apprehend smuggling operations.

03:14Additionally, a special team of prosecutors will be designated to ensure smugglers are

03:19charged and penalized.

03:21The Department of Agriculture has expressed its approval of the new law, which grants

03:26the DA the authority to inspect warehouses and cold storage facilities nationwide.

03:32Agriculture Secretary Francisco T. Laurel Jr. issued a strong warning following this

03:36developments.

03:37We will do our best to apprehend these smugglers, and we hope that they have a plan to do illegal

03:49smuggling because this is non-bailable if you get caught.

03:54We will apprehend all of you.

03:56Klezel Pardilia, for the new and better Philippines.

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