Imee Marcos urges gov't to file cases vs agri smugglers ASAP

Senator Imee Marcos on Friday called on the government to file cases against smugglers of agricultural products to prevent high costs of basic commodities.

“The government should go after smugglers. Tigilan na ang photo ops, raid, magkaso na tayo. Hulihin na ang mga smuggler,” Marcos told reporters after visiting children at a hospital .

(Let's stop with taking photos of raids and file cases instead.)

“It seems like the smugglers are also the legal importer, and the ones declaring a shortage,” she added without naming names.

The senator, sister of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., also underscored the need to help local farmers become more competitive.

“We really need to invest in agriculture infrastructure. Just look at our irrigation, dams. Angat dam, Magat dam, Pantabangan, these are old,” she said.

Last but not the least, Marcos said the government should increase local production to prevent reliance on imports.

“We should buy local first because if we rely on imports, what happens to us when there’s no one around to sell us imports? We import as needed, but we need to minimize them and these imports should not enter the country during harvest season,” Marcos said.

Marcos was hopeful that newly appointed Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. would properly steer the Department of Agriculture ship.

“Let us give him a chance and he understands the supply side of things. So, hopefully, he can put things in order,” she added. — DVM, GMA Integrated News