Marcos certifies agri economic sabotage bill as urgent

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has certified as urgent the proposed legislation defining agricultural economic sabotage and imposing more severe penalties for violators.

Through a letter addressed to Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, Marcos said he wants Senate Bill No. 2432 to be certified as urgent.

In Marcos' letter to Zubiri, Marcos said the need to facilitate the passage of SB No. 2432 is imperative, "especially now that the country is beset by rising prices and shortages in agricultural products, partly due to the nefarious acts of smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, and cartel."

The President expressed belief that the measure would promote the productivity of the agriculture sector, protect farmers and fisherfolks from unscrupulous traders and importers, and ensure the reasonable and affordable prices of agricultural and fishery products for consumers.

SB No. 2432 reached the Senate plenary last week.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said the Philippine government is losing at least P200 billion in revenues a year due to smuggling.

She also emphasized that smuggling was one of the reasons why many of the local farmers continue to live in poverty.

"The illegal entry of agricultural products threatens their livelihood and the welfare of two-thirds of our population who depend on agriculture,” Villar said in her sponsorship speech.

Four Senate committees released Committee Report No. 18, which proposed that acts of agricultural smuggling and hoarding should be considered economic sabotage when the value involved is at least P1 million.

The committee report also pushed for a life imprisonment penalty and a fine equal to three times the value of the agricultural and fishery products subject to the crime as economic sabotage on anyone who commits, aids, or abets the commission of prohibited acts.

Under the proposed measure, economic sabotage in agriculture was defined as any act or activity that disrupts the economy by creating artificial shortages, promoting excessive importation, manipulating prices and supply, evading payment or underpayment of 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.  

Marcos has also certified as urgent the passage of the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget for 2024.

In a letter addressed to Speaker Martin Romualdez dated September 20, Marcos said the immediate enactment of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) was needed to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the fiscal year 2023 and to expedite the funding for various programs.

Marcos also said certifying the bill as urgent would ensure budgetary preparedness, which will enable the government to perform its constitutional mandate. —KBK, GMA Integrated News