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Albay Rep. Joey Salceda (File photo) MANILA - The House Ways and Means Committee is eyeing to propose amendments to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act to boost the government's fight against agricultural smuggling in the country and protect the livelihood of local farmers. Albay Representative Joey Salceda said the House panel has been focused on working with the agencies to revise administrative issuances and policies, as well as creating the necessary legislative pressure to strengthen ongoing anti-smuggling efforts. "I will constitute a Technical Working Group on possible recommendations that we can turn over to the next administration, particularly on amendments to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act," Salceda said in a message to reporters on Tuesday. The committee, he said, would also finalize a joint memorandum circular between the agencies to strengthen anti agricultural smuggling measures. He noted that they would hold another House hearing with the Bu
SENATE PROBE. Senate President Vicente Sotto III asks questions during the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on the smuggled agricultural products on Monday (March 28, 2022). Bureau of Customs Assistant Commissioner Vincent Maronilla and Agriculture Assistant Secretary Federico Laciste Jr. attended the second hearing. (Screengrab from Senate hearing) MANILA - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) agreed that digitalization of their system would boost the government's fight against the smuggling of agricultural products in the country. This, after Senate President Vicente Sotto III during the Senate Committee of the Whole public hearing on Monday noticed inconsistencies in the government's records of imported agricultural products. "To make things worse, efforts made on contacting some of the operations against smugglers were put to naught as cases have not yet been filed. What are the BOC and DA doing about these inconsistencies?," Sot
The House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means, chaired by Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, has called for a strict monitoring of meat and agricultural products amid reports of smuggling cases in the country on Monday, Nov. 22. The House panel also tackled the streamlining of processes invo
File photo MANILA - The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Monday told lawmakers it has seized over 81,000 liters of smuggled fuel upon the creation of a task force to combat fuel smuggling in the country. During the hearing of the House ways and means committee, the BOC said a Joint Fuel Integrity and Field Testing (FIFT) Task Force was proposed to be created with representatives from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Department of Energy (DOE), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) this year after Albay Representative Joey Salceda recommended the creation of a Task Force "Paihi" to address fuel smuggling in February. According to the Customs report, these operations resulted to the seizure of 79,740 liters of diesel, 2,016 liters of kerosene and two units of tank truck. Salceda, who chairs the House panel, lauded the BOC for this initial progress, as he expressed optimism that it will be able to apprehend more smugglers. "Just the mere th