MANILA – Senators on Wednesday raised alarm over what they described as “syndicate-style” agricultural smuggling that has weakened food security, harmed local producers, and exposed gaps in government enforcement.
Opening the fifth Senate hearing on agricultural smuggling, Senator Francis Pangilinan said recent findings show that foreign groups, particularly Chinese nationals and exporters, have cornered large-scale illicit food shipments with the help of Filipino partners.
He warned that the pattern mirrors organized operations previously seen in other sectors.
Pangilinan, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture, said dummy firms have been used to channel misdeclared shipments into ports, including spoiled meat worth hundreds of millions of pesos hidden in cold storage facilities.
He added that circumstantial evidence indicates syndicates are exploiting corruption within government agencies to bypass x-ray screening, divert unescorted trucks, and ignore alerts from the Department of Agriculture.
The senator raised concerns over questionable patterns in rice importation, where corporations with interlocking directors apply for hundreds of permits but use only half, prompting questions about possible hoarding or the creation of artificial scarcity that may be driving price increases.
“Food security is a national security concern and therefore agri-smuggling is a threat to our national security,” Pangilinan said.
He noted that accountability remains low: only four of 132 smuggling cases from 2021 to 2025 were filed before the Department of Justice, with most dismissed due to the absence of original documents from the Bureau of Customs.
Pangilinan said immediate reforms are needed, including e-tracking, stronger inter-agency coordination, higher accountability standards, and audits of warehouses to dismantle corruption chains.
Meanwhile, Senator Erwin Tulfo, who supported the chair’s statements, said the scale of smuggling directly harms farmers and raises concerns about what else may be entering the country unchecked.
“Hindi na ho natin alam kung ano ho 'yung pinapasok dyan… baka may palaman na ho ’yan ng mga droga o ano man 'yan (We no longer know what is entering… those shipments might even be concealing drugs or other contraband)," Tulfo said.
He said while some Customs personnel manage to intercept shipments, the repeated lapses that allow smuggling to persist remain unacceptable.
“It’s inexcusable po yung mga ganitong bagay (These things are inexcusable)," he added. (PNA)