Senate to conduct inquiry on P700-M rice smuggling attempt from Vietnam

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform will soon conduct a hearing into the attempted smuggling of around P700 million worth of rice from Vietnam, according to Sen. Francis Pangilinan.

He said the incident raises serious concerns over the continued lack of convictions of big-time smugglers and how this apparent impunity allows large-scale smuggling operations to persist.

Pangilinan, the chair of the committee, said he is eyeing to conduct the hearing before the end of the month or possibly at the same time with the budget hearing the Department of Agriculture.

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“Before the end of the month, we’ll have a hearing…October 20 and 21 is the scheduled budget hearing of [DA], so we will look into this. They will have to explain,” he said in an interview with radio DWIZ

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“Maybe we can also do the inquiry there, so we don’t have to conduct separate hearings. You know, during budget hearing, many issues are brought up. Let’s do the committee hearing during their budget hearing, and we will follow that up not just in the committee level but up to the plenary,” he added.

READ: Padilla calls for death penalty for agricultural smugglers

During the Senate session last Thursday, Pangilinan revealed that around 20,000 metric tons of Vietnamese rice were seized from two cargo vessels on Sept. 17 and Sept. 21.

The shipments were worth about P700 million based on prevailing world market prices of around $420 per metric ton.

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According to reports, the Bureau of Customs (BOC), in coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Philippine Navy (PN), apprehended MV Tay Son 2 and MV Lucky Star last month because of questionable documentation and the cancellation of vital sanitary permits.

The MV Tay Son 2, which was carrying 12,500 metric tons of rice, attempted to leave the Port of Davao without completing the required Customs processing, prompting the Philippine Navy to intercept and apprehend the vessel on the high seas.

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On the other hand, MV Lucky Star, which was apprehended at the Port of Limay because its import permit was not consistent with the actual contents of the shipment, was found with nearly 7,500 metric tons of rice.

Pangilinan said the seizures were being investigated as possible violations of Republic Act No. 12022, or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act of 2024.

He lamented that despite of the existing law, setting the threshold at P10 million for an agricultural economic sabotage case to be non-bailable, no big-time smugglers have been jailed.

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“Sadly, however, the record of apprehension leading to imprisonment and conviction, thus far, is dismal,” he said. /mr