BUREAU of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, vowed to file a case of large-scale agricultural smuggling against those behind the attempt to smuggle in a huge shipment of frozen mackerel from China early this month valued at more than P202 million.
In a statement dated March 7, the agency said it has been conducting “profiling and “case buildup” against the consignee and its agents is also “coordinating” with the Department of Finance (DOF) for the filing of the appropriate criminal charges under RA 12022 or the ‘Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act of 2024.’
Section 7 of RA 10222 considers smuggling as an act of economic sabotage when the value of each or a combination of agricultural or fishery product is P10 million or more of which the penalty is 30 years or life imprisonment.
Despite repeated media request, however, the BOC for unknown reason, refused to identify the consignee, a practice that it has maintained for some time now despite being contrary to Section 4(d) of RA 10175 or the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
Section 4 of RA 10175 lists down the exemptions by which the personal data of any individual can be disclosed. Paragraph “d” stated that personal data can be released to the public if it is to be processed “for journalistic, artistic, literary or research purposes.”
To recall, Commissioner Rubio and Department of Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel jointly led in the public opening of the shipment, declared as ‘frozen fried taro sticks and ‘cuttle fish flavored balls’ that arrived on board 19 containers last March 3 at the Port of Manila (Pinoy Exposé, March 3, 2025).
It was the largest apprehension of smuggled frozen fish product by the BOC thus far this year.