THE Department of Agriculture’s exclusion in the country’s Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group hinders the agency from fighting smuggling more effectively, DA spokesman Arnel de Mesa said in an interview on Tuesday.
The group — composed of the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Department of Finance — was formed following the signing of Republic Act 12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act.
It is intended to assist the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council. While the DA is a council member, it is not part of the enforcement group.
This is why the DA wants the repeal of Section 18 of RA 12022, for it to join the enforcement group.
The DA would be an asset to the group, since the agency’s regulatory bureaus (Plant and Animal Industry, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) have the data on agricultural commodities entering the ports, de Mesa explained.
For over a year now, the DA has intercepted a huge amount of smuggled goods in coordinated operations, de Mesa noted, but joining the enforcement group would boost its efforts and enable it to monitor all ports.
The DA likewise wants a review of the threshold for an offense to be considered economic sabotage.
The current threshold of P10 million is too high, de Mesa argued, since smuggled goods are usually cheap, which means it would take a huge volume before the smuggler could be investigated.
Meanwhile, the seized goods would be affecting stock inventories of the commodity and its price in the markets.
De Mesa called for a thorough review of the offense threshold, with consideration for various types of agricultural commodities.
From January 2024 to July 2025, the DA has confiscated about P3.78 billion worth of smuggled goods from 182 operations. The commodities include vegetables, such as onions and carrots, as well as fish and rice, among others — whose proliferation can affect the livelihood of farmers and fishers.
