SENATOR Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan joined hands with Bureau of Customs (BOC) in declaring an all-out war against agricultural smuggling as they led the inspection of two 40-foot containers with smuggled agricultural products worth P12.96 million at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) on Monday, October 27.
“Ang mahalaga dito ay nagtutulungan ang ating Committee on Agriculture sa Senado at ang BOC. Interestingly enough, ako ay naging chairman ng Senate Committee on Agriculture ng end of July at si Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno naman ay naging commissioner (ng BOC) beginning July,” he said.
In his capacity as chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, the senator had been holding public hearings on the state of the country’s agriculture sector and the impact of agricultural smuggling on farmers, fisherfolks, the economy, and consumers.
On Monday, Pangilinan and BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Philip Maronilla led the inspection of two containers with misdeclared frozen chicken breasts and fish balls at the MICP.
With an estimated total value of P12.96 million, the shipments were originally declared to contain 5,300 cartons of fish balls but were later discovered to hold sacks of frozen chicken breasts instead.
The senator has so far cited in contempt of the Senate five individuals–including brokers and a BOC deputy collector at the Port of Subic–for failing to cooperate with his committee’s investigation into the rampant agricultural smuggling happening in the country’s ports.
“If at all, that’s an indicator of how serious we are, how serious the BOC is. We have been coordinating with the BOC since Day 1 of our smuggling hearings. They have been providing us the necessary documents and information,” he said.
Pangilinan added that he will soon meet with the Office of the Ombudsman, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to start building up cases and filing non-bailable charges against the smugglers under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law.
He pointed out that cases will be filed not only against brokers, consignees, and warehouse owners, but also versus big-time smuggling operators, including government officials.
In joining the inspection, the senator raised concern that the chicken breasts may be unfit for human consumption after receiving intelligence information previously that agricultural products mostly smuggled and shipped from China may pose health risks to consumers.
“Ang lakas ng loob nilang ipasok (at) gumawa ng kalokohan. Is this salvaged value? Ibig sabihin, binili sa China, dapat itapon na, pero dahil mura dadalhin dito tapos lilinisin – ganon ba ang sistema?,” he asked. “We want to check kasi yung ganon. Don ngayon pumapasok yung sakit.”
This concern stems from the P130 billion in losses that affected the country’s hog industry in 2019 due to the outbreak of African Swine Flu (ASF), which wiped out small-scale and large commercial hog farms.
“Tayo ba ay nilalason ng China dahil hindi natin alam kung ito ay pwe-pwede kainin o kaya nire-recycle o kaya binibili for disposal na sa China–binibili ng napakamura dadalhin dito, ibebenta ng mura rin kaya namamatay yung ating poultry industry dahil yung manok na galing sa ibang bansa na patapon naidadala dito,” Pangilinan said.
The senator expressed high hopes that with Nepomuceno at the helm of the BOC, they would be able to coordinate and cooperate on putting smugglers behind bars.
He also vowed to support the modernization efforts of the BOC in an aim to achieve better transparency and ensure that proper duties and taxes are collected.
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