Irrigators, farmers laud solons for economic sabotage bill

Irrigators and farmers’ associations of Pangasinan, La Union, and Central Luzon lauded Abono representatives for successfully spearheading the passage in Congress of a measure declaring large-scale smuggling of agricultural products as economic sabotage. In a letter to Abono Rep. Conrado Estrella III, principal author of the Anti-Large-Scale Agricultural Smuggling Act in the House of Representatives, the heads and officers of the Pangasinan Federation of Irrigators’ Association, Inc. (PFIA), the Provincial Confederation of Irrigators’ Association of La Union (PCIALU), and the Cabanatuan-based UPRIIS Confederation of Farmer-Irrigators’ Associations Inc. (UCFIA) emphasized the importance of the measure to protect local farmers from smuggled agricultural products that have been flooding the market. UCFIA President Dante Lazatin also expressed gratefulness to Sen. Cynthia Villar for her efforts to have the bill approved in the Senate. Under the Anti-Large-Scale Agricultural Smuggling Act, smuggling of rice in the amount of P10 million and above and of other [...]