CROSSING party lines, 17 lawmakers on Wednesday filed a House Joint Resolution (HJR) immediately terminating or withdrawing Executive Order 128, temporarily modifying the rates of import duty on fresh, chilled or frozen pork meat and rejecting the staggering expansion of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) of pork imports.
In HJR 37, lawmakers cited Section 1608 (f) of RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, saying Congress has the power to withdraw or terminate the delegated power of the President to reduce existing rates of import duties.
The lawmakers said EO 128 would create irreparable damage to the pork industry and to the agricultural sector as a whole and runs contrary to the promotion of the general welfare of the people which is a fundamental principle in the Constitution.
“By this reason alone, EO 128 must be withdrawn and terminated immediately,” the resolution said. The lawmakers said the government must instead implement more effective and long-term solutions to strengthen and address the repopulation and rehabilitation of the local pork industry.
The filing of the HJR 37 comes a day after three senators filed a resolution for the revocation of EO 128.
Showdown?
ON Wednesday, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who had triggered the Senate Committee of the Whole hearings on food security with focus on the pork industry crisis, expressed hope Malacañang would recall the EO, thus averting a showdown with Congress—a scenario that Palace officials had said was possible.
Last April 7, 2021, President Duterte signed EO 128 temporarily reducing the Most Favored Nation (MFN) tariff rates on fresh, chilled, or frozen meat of swine with the objective of addressing the existing pork supply shortage, stabilize the prices of pork meat, and minimize inflation rates.
According to lawmakers, hog raisers and producers nationwide are also unanimous in opposing tariff reduction and the staggering expansion of the MAV of pork imports from 54,000 metric tons to 404,000 MT or an equivalent of 749-percent increase in the current quota.
“The Department of Agriculture, as well as hog raisers agree that the country’s consumption of pork is around 1,600,000 MT. However, hog raisers estimate that 160,000 MT of imported pork would be sufficient to cover pork deficiency in the country since local production can still supply 1,461,866 MT. Hog raisers fear that importing in excess of this would flood the market and defeat the local industry,” the lawmakers said in HJR 37.
“Tariff reduction and increased MAV of pork imports will further decimate the local pork industry as we know it and will also undermine our local production and food security, as what has happened to the rice industry,” they added.
According to solons, thousands of Filipinos depend on the pork industry for their livelihood and the impending production stoppage of many producers who cannot cope with the negative effects of the reduced tariff and MAV expansion will mean more loss of jobs and livelihood not only for the owners but also for the entire work force of the industry.
They also said the further decline of the local pork industry will also affect many local allied industries, including poultry, corn farmers and coconut farmers, and other such industries using or dependent on pork products will likely impact on the country’s agricultural development.
“It is not an assurance that reduced tariffs and increased importation will stabilize or reduce the current high prices of pork meat products which has become unfairly exorbitant for consumers,” they added.
“The government must heed the urgent demands and sincere appeal of hog raisers, producers and farmers against tariff reduction and MAV expansion of pork imports,” the lawmakers said.
House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, one of the authors, said the multipartisan move will be considered soon by the leadership and adopted by the House.
“We also trust that a similar measure will also be filed and adopted by our Senate counterparts to avert this grave disaster that will certainly kill our local hog industry, in particular, and in general the agricultural sector,” he said.
Other authors of the resolution are Pangasinan Rep. Rose Marie Arenas, Quezon City Rep. Jose Christopher Belmonte, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, Magsasaka Rep. Argel Cabatbat, Act Teachers Rep. France Castro, Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat, Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Jane Elago, Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Flores, Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, Agap Rep. Rico Geron, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman and Tarlac Rep. Noel Villanueva.
Call to reconsider
EARLIER, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, whose Committee on Ways and Means oversees tariff matters, also urged Duterte to reconsider his EO 128 lowering tariffs on pork.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairman Mark Enverga of Quezon amd Trade and Industry Chairman John Reynald Tiangco of Navotas, in a letter, also asked Duterte to reconsider his recommendation increasing the MAV for pork by 350,000 metric tons (MT) while retaining the existing 40-percent tariff.
House Deputy Speaker Bro Eddie Villanueva joined calls for the lifting of EO 128, saying the move is aimed at directly “killing” the local hog industry.
“The lowering of pork imports tariff in this period of pandemic and when our local hog industry is in ‘critical’ if not dying condition due to African swine fever is not only shocking but at the same time unbelievable! Allowing more pork imports to flood the market will surely kill the livelihood of our Filipino hog raisers! It is surely never the most apt policy to enforce, it is devoid of any serious concern for our local pork producers,” said Villanueva.
Lacson’s hope
ON Wednesday, Senator Lacson crossed his fingers Malacañang will recall EO 128, sparing lawmakers and the Palace from a looming showdown.
“Well and good if it [lifting of EO] actually happens. It would mean that the President is not impervious to valid criticisms against an ill-advised course of action that will bring more harm than good on all practical aspects involving the hog industry,” Lacson said.
He made the remarks after Malacañang warned lawmakers of a possible impasse over EO 128 if the lawmakers adopt a joint resolution to restrict the power of the President when it comes to imposing tariff rates.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque late Tuesday said the Palace “respects the call of some lawmakers to revoke Executive Order 128,” even as he added that “given the importance of the issue, the Executive and the Legislative branches can work together in protecting the interest of stakeholders such as consumers and our hog raisers alike.”
In a statement Wednesday, Senator Lacson aired hopes of affected hog raisers who had said lower tariff will cause imported pork to flood the local market. “I hope the President considers the plight of the dying industry affecting 80,000 backyard hog raisers along with hundreds of thousands of farmhands and their families—and the foregone revenues the government will deal with, especially at this time of the pandemic,” Lacson pleaded.
He said senators had based their opposition to the Department of Agriculture recommendations for lowering tariff while expanding MAV on the data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority. “If you ask me, I’ll take the side of data anytime,” the senator said.
Thus, he added, “with an average yearly surplus of 400 million kilos from local hog production for the three-year period 2018-2020, it defies logic why they still allowed the importation of almost 200 million kilos year-on-year for the same period.”
With Butch Fernandez
Image credits: PNA/Ben Briones
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