INAASAHAN na malapit nang maisabatas ang Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act na ratipikahan ng Senado ang bicameral conference committee report sa Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.

“The measure intends to repeal the seven-year old Republic Act No. 10845, or the “Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act” and introduce severe sanctions on the nefarious acts of smuggling, hoarding, profiteering and cartel of agricultural and fishery products,” ayon kay Sen. Cythia Villar.

Aniya, matatakpan din nito ang mga butas sa tax at duty collection.

Ipinasa ng Senado ang Senate Bill No. 2432 o Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Bill” noong December 2023 at sinertipikan ni President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. na “urgent.”

Noong March 20, 2024, isinagawa ng mga kinatawan ng Senado at Kongreso ang bicam conference sa panukalang ito.

Ang mga salient features ng batas ang mga sumusunod:

1. The creation of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Task Force directly under the control and supervision of the Office of the President.

2. Creation of an Enforcement Group which shall have the authority to visit areas where the agricultural and fisheries products are located on the strength of a Letter of Authority (LoA), issued by the Executive Committee of the Council;

3. Creation of the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Court under the jurisdiction of the Court of Tax Appeal;

4. Creation of a Special Team of Prosecutors from the DOJ for the expeditious prosecution of cases involving agri-economic sabotage;

5. Creation under the DA of the Daily Price Index Monitoring Office, established and maintained by the AMAS and the BAR to monitor and report on the prices of enumerated agricultural products in all the regions of country;

6. Covered agricultural products: rice, corn, beef, pork, poultry, garlic, onion, carrots, other vegetables, fruits, fish, salt, and other aquatic products, in their raw state or which has under gone simple process of preservation, until post-harvest stage of the supply chain; palm oil, palm oleic, raw and refined sugar and tobacco.

7. Establishment of the long delayed National Single Window System.

8. Also included are : financing of agricultural economic sabotage crimes enumerated in this Act, use of government storage facilities for the purpose of act enumerated herein, and illegal acts of the enforcement group as enumerated in the Act.

Kasama ni Senator Villar, nag co-author din sa naturang batas sina Senators Padilla, Revilla, Jr., Marcos, Lapid, Tulfo, Dela Rosa, Ejercito, Villanueva, Hontiveros and Legarda.