The Department of Justice’s National Prosecution Service (DoJ-NPS) plans to roll out more capacity-building workshops for prosecutors assigned to enforce the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage (AAES) Law, strengthening its drive to build cases against smuggling syndicates and secure convictions.
The initiative follows a recent workshop that equipped members of the DoJ’s AAES Enforcement Unit with practical guidance on case build-up, inquest procedures, documentary requirements, and prosecution strategies for large-scale smuggling cases, including those involving illicit tobacco.
DoJ-NPS Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon signaled their intention to conduct follow-on sessions, including a possible workshop in November involving the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), to improve coordination among investigators and prosecutors and ensure that enforcement operations result in cases that can withstand judicial scrutiny.
Mr. Fadullon said during their recent capacity-building workshop in Manila that stronger prosecutorial preparation is critical because complaints filed under the AAES Law may require further investigation when evidence gathered during enforcement operations is insufficient.
“We are hopeful that these capacity-building trainings and collaboration with enforcement agencies will finally lead to our first conviction under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law,” Mr. Fadullon said.
The anticipated first conviction could arise from illicit tobacco-related cases handled by the NPS’s AAES Enforcement Unit, which is sharpening its approach to evidence assessment and case preparation through the training program.
Mr. Fadullon stressed that dismantling smuggling syndicates requires sustained cooperation among enforcement agencies, prosecutors, regulators, and responsible private-sector partners.
He said such collaboration can improve the quality of evidence, strengthen prosecution strategies, and help hold offenders accountable.
The DoJ-NPS has filed at least 10 major AAES cases from the first quarter of 2025 through mid-2026, underscoring the need for sustained training as prosecutors handle complex cases involving organized smuggling operations.
Through additional workshops, the DoJ aims to help prosecutors identify evidentiary gaps earlier, work more closely with enforcement agencies, and develop stronger cases against the organizers, financiers, and members of smuggling networks.
In March 2025, the DoJ filed a P5.7-billion tax evasion case against five Chinese nationals whose alleged involvement was uncovered during a joint Bureau of Internal Revenue and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operation against illicit cigarettes in six locations in Valenzuela and Bulacan.
A recent study by the EU-ASEAN Business Council and Euromonitor International estimated that illicit tobacco products cost the government at least $2.5 billion, or about P141 billion, in revenues over the past two years.
Republic Act No. 12022, or the AAES Law, classifies large-scale agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage and imposes heavier penalties for smuggling, hoarding, profiteering, cartelization, and the financing of these crimes.
For the tobacco sector, expanded prosecutorial training is expected to help convert seizures into successful cases against syndicates that deprive the government of tax revenues, undermine legitimate businesses, distort the market, and threaten the livelihoods of Filipino tobacco farmers.
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