FASTER PROCESS. Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin Adriano urges the Department of Justice to hasten their prosecution of agricultural smugglers in the country in the Laging Handa briefing on Monday (April 25, 2022). Adriano noted these smugglers could be charged with "economic sabotage." (Screengrab) MANILA- The Department of Agriculture (DA) called on Monday the Department of Justice to expedite the prosecution of agricultural smugglers. In the Laging Handa briefing, DA Undersecretary Fermin Adriano reiterated that their department has no power, under the law, to prosecute or charge agricultural smugglers, who he said are behind the "economic sabotage" in the country. "So kinakailangan talagang pag-ibayuhin ng DOJ 'yung 'pag-prosecute nito at sana bilisan po nila (So the DOJ needs to continue and expedite their prosecution)... make the process much faster," he said. Adriano made the plea following the congressional hearing where several "smugglers" were named before the lawmakers. "Kami po gusto namin na maging mabilis sana 'yung proseso para mabigyan natin ng example at ma-discourage natin ito kasi malaki talaga ang mawawala sa kaban ng bayan, at mas matindi yung impact sa ating mga magsasaka (We hope the process will become faster so that we could set an example, to discourage them, because the country's coffers are losing big-time. It also has a huge impact on our farmers)," he said. He said suspects, including those who will be found liable in the DA's investigation, would be charged with "economic sabotage," a violation which he equated to plunder. "Mabigat po 'yung kaso na 'yan parang plunder, napakababa nung threshold para ma-consider na (It's grave, it's like plunder, it has a very low threshold to be considered as) economic sabotage. Sa mga (in) vegetables lang carrots, onion, tomato, isang milyon lang at pataas, economic sabotage na 'yun, 'pag nag-smuggle ka nu'n, sa bigas sampung milyon pataas, economic sabotage na 'yun, so multi-billion po ang pinag-uusapan natin dito (PHP1 million and above, it's economic sabotage. PHP10 million of smuggled rice or higher, that's economic sabotage. So we are talking about multi-billion-pesos here)," he said. 'Technical Smuggling' The DA is also closely looking into technical smugglers who allegedly resorted to the misdeclaration of palm oil products as animal feed. "Around PHP40 to PHP45 billion ang nawala, so kailangan talagang habulin, lalo na ngayon kulang tayo ng pondo, kailangan talaga habulin 'yang mga kompanya na 'yan (We are losing around PHP40 to PHP45 billion, so we really need to run after them, especially now that we are lacking funds, we need to go after these companies)," Adriano added. The DA earlier disclosed that the Anti-Red Tape Authority has launched an investigation following the malicious increase of animal feed imports, where complaints of its possible conversion to cooking oil were reported, using the "refined, bleached, deodorized" procedure. The DA also has implemented strict requirements of utilization reports to monitor how these imports were used. Adriano, meanwhile, was delighted after several lawmakers expressed full support to the DA, assuring they will grant either a budget or policy amendment to the agency to combat smuggling. "Sila nga gusto nilang magbigay ng kapangyarihan at tamang budget, kami po'y natutuwa sapagkat magiging mabuti, maigting ang paglaban sa smuggling kung bibigyan ng karampatang kapangyarihan ang Department of Agriculture (The lawmakers want to give us power and an appropriate budget, we are happy because it will be a good, intensified fight against smuggling if due powers will be granted to the Department of Agriculture)," he noted. Earlier, DA Secretary William Dar ordered the formation of an investigating committee to identify alleged cohorts or protectors of agricultural smugglers, within their office. (PNA) }