A SENATOR on Monday flagged the alleged collusion among Chinese smuggling syndicates, local enterprises, and government officials that allowed the entry of smuggled agricultural products.
During a Senate hearing on the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform, Senator Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan claimed that smuggling syndicates from China, local businesses, and government officials from several agencies could be conniving.
He noted that all cases of smuggled farm goods being discussed in the hearing came from China.
With this, Pangilinan said there was ‘sufficient, circumstantial evidence’ to believe that ‘Chinese smuggling syndicates’ were conniving with local businessmen, along with employees and officials in the Bureau of Customs, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Agriculture, even in the Department of Justice, and the Bureau of Immigration.
He said such a collusion allowed them to operate freely, with government officials ‘occasionally raiding and seizing smuggled agricultural products to show a semblance of law enforcement while ensuring that no big-time smuggler is prosecuted for the non-bailable offense of economic sabotage.’
Pangilinan then named some foreign companies that reportedly shipped misdeclared items, which were initially stated as processed food but turned out to be onions and frozen mackerel.
He then stressed the danger brought by smuggled agricultural products, given the country’s lack of first-border facilities.
‘Smuggled food poses a significant risk. There is no physical inspection or chemical analysis, nor are there tests for poison, viruses, or bacteria to determine if it is expired or fit for human consumption,’ Pangilinan said.
Fund for Cefa
Earlier, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said the agency wants to use part of the P20 billion earmarked for the implementation of a law that aims to modernize the livestock and poultry subsectors for the construction of Cold Examination Facilities for Agriculture (Cefas).
The DA would need as much as P1.5 billion to build five Cefas to prevent the entry of transboundary animal diseases and curb the smuggling of farm products, Tiu Laurel said. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/10/09/da-keen-on-using-part-of-livestock-poultry-fund-for-cefas/)
‘The senators suggested they might find a way to fund it in the [bicameral conference], which is preferred. But if not, we might use part of the AnCEF fund just to get at least one [Cefa] started.’
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently signed Republic Act (RA) 12308 or the Animal Industry Development and Competitiveness Act.
The new law creates a 10-year fund dubbed the AnCEF, which would consist of tariffs collected from imported livestock, poultry, and dairy products.