The passage of a measure seeking to institutionalize and improve mechanisms and provide more stringent penalties against smuggling of onion and other agricultural products will be hastened once the second regular session of the 19th Congress resumes on July 24.
The measure is among the 20 priority bills slated for approval by Congress before the year ends during the 2nd Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) full meeting presided over by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on Wednesday.
“As soon as the start of the 2nd Regular Session of the 19th Congress, we will immediately buckle down to work for the passage of the proposed amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act,” House Speaker Martin Romualdez said on Thursday.
He said the measure, once enacted, would be to tighten the noose against smugglers of agricultural products.
“The inclusion of this measure among the LEDAC priority legislation manifests the commitment of Congress to support President Marcos’ drive against unfair business practices that hurt consumers and local farmers alike, but also derail the administration’s efforts to attain food security,” he said.
Marcos earlier ordered the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice to go after smugglers of onion and other agricultural products, based largely on the findings of the investigation conducted by the House committee on agriculture and food.
In a House hearing last May, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo tagged a cartel, operating through a web of companies, as the culprit that manipulated the supply and prices of onion.
Romualdez called for a congressional investigation into the alleged hoarding, price fixing, and smuggling of onion when the prices of the agricultural commodity hit a record-high of about PHP700 per kilo in December last year.
Other measures LEDAC approved for passage before the year ends include the Amendments of the BOT Law/Public Private Partnership bill, National Disease Prevention Management Authority, Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law, Health Emergency Auxillary Reinforcement Team (Heart) Act or formerly Medical Reserve Corps, Virology Institute of the Philippines, Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program (NSTP), Revitalizing the Salt Industry, Valuation Reform, E-Government/E-Governance and Ease of Paying Taxes.
Also targeted for passage this year are the National Government Rightsizing Program, Unified System of Separation/Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel, Local Government Unit Income Classification, Waste-to-Energy bill, New Philippine Passport Act, Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, National Employment Action Plan and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-endorsed Bank Deposit Secrecy, and Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) bills.
Eighteen of the 20 bills were part of the 42 priority legislative measures during the first LEDAC meeting in October 2022. The two BSP-endorsed measures were added to the LEDAC priority list during the meeting Wednesday.
The House has already approved on the third and final reading 33 out of the original 42 LEDAC priority measures by the end of the First Regular Session of the 19th Congress. (PNA)