Tatlo lang? JV Ejercito ‘saddened’ by Bureau of Custom’s failure to arrest more big-time agri smugglers
August 31, 2022
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said he
was “saddened” by the failure of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to fully enforce
the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act and arrest big-time agricultural smugglers
operating in the country.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s
second hearing on the recent fiasco on sugar importation, Ejercito grilled
Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz after the latter admitted that only
three smugglers have been arrested and jailed since the passage of the
Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.
“Six years have passed when this law was
enacted, hanggang ngayon, wala pa rin ako naririnig na talagang big fish o mga
large-scale agricultural smugglers na nakakasuhan o nakukulong,” he said.
“Ang nakakalungkot
dito, yung ating lokal na industriya talagang hindi magdedevelop – yung bigas,
wala nang mag-iinvest o sa sugar industry na nangyayari ngayon – hangga’t
patuloy ang pagpasok ng mga smuggled agricultural products,” he added.
The
Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which Ejercito principally authored during his
first term in the Senate, elevated large-scale agricultural smuggling into a
heinous crime and a form of economic sabotage.
Asked by Ejercito
on the situation of agricultural smuggling in the country, Ruiz said he did not
have the concerned data on hand.
“Regarding the number of smugglers, your honor, we do
not have data regarding that but what we are doing right now, your honor, is that we have more
or less seen different processes that we think that we can really improve and
with the implementation of these systems and processes, your honor, it will
result in more positive interdiction,” Ruiz said.
