Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 6) — An agriculture group on Thursday pushed for the creation of a special court to focus on smuggling cases.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source, Rosendo So, chairman of the Samahang Industriya Ng Agrikultura (SINAG), said laws should be amended to allow anyone, including agriculture groups, to file a case against a suspected smuggler in a special court.
“Sa tingin natin mas effective kung may special court kasi tututukan ‘yung mga kaso,” he said.
[Translation: We believe a special court will be more effective because it can focus on the cases.]
In March, Senator Cynthia Villar filed Senate Bill 1963 seeking the creation of such courts in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cebu, and Davao. It is pending at the committee.
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So said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) usually files cases against possible smugglers.
After the Department of Agriculture (DA) reports about suspected smuggled commodities, the BOC will come in to investigate and file complaints, he said.
However, a number of complaints do not progress during hearings because of either the absence of Customs personnel or incomplete documents, leading to dismissals, he noted.
So said there is possible collusion between DA and BOC officials.
He said both agencies should be excluded in the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Task Force to be led by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ on Tuesday said it would form the task force to focus “on protecting the entire agricultural sector, not only the onion industry.\”
This was in response to the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is also DA secretary, to investigate the smuggling of onions and other agricultural commodities.
READ: From soaring prices to resignations: PH agriculture during Marcos’ first year
The DOJ said the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Bureau of Investigation would be part of the task force. They will also be joined by a special team of prosecutors.
