JV Ejercito blasts agri, customs officials: Why punish PAL crew and not big-time smugglers?
January 16, 2023
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito on Monday
slammed agriculture and customs officials for focusing on punishing ordinary
Filipinos and failing to arrest big-time smugglers, as the country grapples
with soaring prices among agricultural goods.
During the hearing of the Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, Ejercito said the amount of
undocumented onions and fruits recently confiscated from ten crew members of
flag carrier airline Philippine Airlines (PAL) is nothing compared to the
amount of agricultural goods being smuggled into the country by major cartels.
“Yung PAL crew, nagdadala ‘yan ng pasalubong
for personal consumption. Dati, mansanas, ubas, pabango, sapatos. Ngayon,
sibuyas na ang kanilang pinapasalubong sa kanilang mga pamilya. So, this is
already a cause of alert,” he said.
“Two kilograms, one kilogram, with a value of
one hundred dollars to one fifty dollars. Pero milyun-milyon yung nakakalusot
sa smuggling. Ito papatulan natin ,erpo
yung mga big-time na cartel, smuggler, protektor, nakakalusot?” he added.
Customs authorities recently issued a
memorandum, stating that more than 11 kilos of onions and around six kilos of
onions of lemon with a combined value of $100 were confiscated from PAL crew
members of Flight PR 655 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The said crew members will be charged with
violating the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act and the Plant Quarantine
Decree of 1978.
The lawmaker from San Juan also lamented the
failure of agriculture and customs officials to fully implement the
Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law, which he principally authored during his first
term in the Senate.
“As authors, hindi madali magpasa ng mga
batas. The Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Law was designed to protect our farmers,
lahat. Sa bigas, asukal, sibuyas, bawang, lahat na po. Six years after its
enactment, wala pa akong naririnig na big-time smuggler na napapakulong,” he
Ejercito said.
“May pampabulag ba tayo? May pampalabo ng
mata? Ano ba ang nangyayari sa’tin?” he added.
