BIZ BUZZ: Food smugglers, hoarders, beware!

Food smugglers and price manipulators must now quiver in fear for the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act (Ages) is here.

Following the signing by President Marcos of Republic Act No. 12002, which tightened the rules to combat agricultural smuggling, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. assured the public that local authorities—the Department of Agriculture (DA), Bureau of Customs, Philippine National Police and other government agencies—would stop at nothing to chase and punish violators.

Ages imposes stiffer penalties against smugglers and hoarders of food products, including cartels.

“Ang request natin sa mga smuggler, itigil na nila yung mga masamang gawain na nakaka-affect sa ating farmers and fisherfolks (Well, our request to the smugglers is to stop this illegal activity that severely affects the livelihood of our farmers and fishers),” Tiu Laurel said.

Smuggling and hoarding of agricultural food products will be classified as economic sabotage when the value of smuggled goods exceeds P10 billion. The penalty is now five times the value of smuggled or hoarded products. Violators also face life imprisonment.

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Also, the new law rewards those who will turn in the bad guys.

“This should lead to the radical reduction of their ranks,” Tiu Laurel said.