Lacson, Sotto vow to crack down on smuggling of agri goods

Heeding the clamor of agitated Benguet vegetable farmers blatantly being “robbed of livelihood” by smugglers of imported agricultural products sold in the black market, Senator Panfilo Lacson assured a no-nonsense reform is in the priority list of the Lacson-Senate President Vicente Sotto III administration.

Lacson laments that even as local farmers are already encountering difficulty earning a living, “they are still given a hard time by those who are suppose to take care of their rights and source of living, that contribute to the country’s economy and preserve the health of our countrymen.”

This was just one of the many gripes conveyed by Benguet farmers who sought the help of Lacson, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer, and his running mate Sotto during the presidential tandem’s sortie in north Luzon.

“Thank you po, sir, sa pag-intervene sa [Senate hearing],” was the short but emotional message by Agot Balanoy, manager of Hi-Land Farmers Multipurpose Cooperative, when he personally met Lacson in Baguio City during the last leg of the Lacson-Sotto presidential tandem’s provincial sorties before the end of 2021.

The farmer-residents were among the last visited by the Lacson-Sotto team in their Northern Luzon sorties before they take a break from their countryside campaign sorties for the year-end.

In a series of tete-a-tete with rural folks, farmers conveyed to Lacson himself they can feel that their hopes of “finally getting justice is near,” given that the senator vowed to give priority to take care of the agriculture sector, more so in the midst of rampant illegal smuggling of agriculture products killing the local industry.

In his Facebook page, Lacson affirmed an appeal to “uplift the dignity of our farmers under the  #WalangNakawanNgKabuhayan para maiangat ang dignidad ng mga magsasaka gayundin ang mga negosyanteng Pilipino na sinusubukan pa ring makaahon sa epekto ng pandemya.”

“Let us uplift the dignity of our local farmers by buying their products,” Lacson pleads in his post, adding: “Magtulungan tayo para hindi sila manakawan ng kabuhayan.”

In a recent Senate inquiry into the agriculture sector, Sotto and Lacson zoomed in on unabated rampant smuggling, flooding markets with imported fruits and vegetables, like strawberry and carrots, among others, despite the mounting regulations and other processes required to pass agencies including the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Agriculture.