PHILRECA Party-List Representative Presley De Jesus proposes the passage of legislative measures that clamp down on vegetable smuggling activities. In his statement, he mentions how the government can address these unfair and illegal practices and protect our local farmers and consumers.
Included in his proposal to protect the agricultural sector is (1) to intensify the government’s anti-smuggling task force to prevent smuggled agricultural products from entering the country, (2) to emphasize the need to prevent the entry of smuggled vegetables into the entire country, with focus and intensified attention being given as well in the local and regional farmlands; and (3) to revisit liberalization and trade policies of the government because smuggling “is deemed as among the ill-effects of the liberalized flow of imported agri-fishery products in the country.
“I urge our farmers and consumers alike to be vigilant in reporting smuggled vegetables – or even just suspicions thereof – to the authorities.”
As these practices endanger local livelihood, Rep. De Jesus expressed dismay on how existing laws do not protect local farmers.
“In the last few years, however, despite the passage of Republic Act 10845 or the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, smuggled vegetables from neighboring countries continue to flood the Philippine market. Sadly, farmers are always at the losing end when smuggled vegetables flood the market at a cheaper price. There is a very urgent need, therefore, to address this threat to our local farmers,” he said.
Rep. De Jesus, a champion of the rural electrification sector, believes that protecting the agricultural sector is imperative to achieve sustainable development in the countryside. He believes that energizing the countryside goes hand-in-hand with protecting the industries of local farmers.
“As this is a primary source of livelihood, as this could be a way for the people to achieve a more beneficial condition in the future, we should protect our farmers against injustice and unfair practices that could have a serious impact on their industry,” he said.
Further, he calls on the farmers and consumers to closely work with authorities to crack down on these abhorrent smugglers.
“I urge our farmers and consumers alike to be vigilant in reporting smuggled vegetables – or even just suspicions thereof – to the authorities. And together, let us express our indignation and condemnation against vegetable smuggling and its externalities! Let us make sure that this generation and the next to come will experience the dream of having a better, perhaps more ideal, quality of life,” he added.
