Manila, Dec. 10 -- Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Wednesday underscored the deepening link between the country's food and agriculture crises and what he described as systemic failures and possible collusion enabling large-scale agricultural and fisheries smuggling.

Opening the sixth Senate hearing on the issue, Pangilinan recounted the "inconsistent and troubling" testimonies surrounding the controversial Subic incident, where several refrigerated containers flagged by the Department of Agriculture (DA) were released for a supposed 100-percent inspection despite having no formal Bureau of Customs (BOC) alert order and no verified consignee warehouse at the listed destination.

He said testimonies from customs examiners, assessment off...