THE draft presidential proclamation submitted by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for a state of emergency on account of the African Swine Fever (ASF) will not solve the pork supply crisis and price spikes if the Executive’s proposal to cut tariff on imported pork while substantially raising minimum access volumes (MAV) is approved as well, Senator Francis Pangilinan said Sunday.
This, Pangilinan said, is the reason senators adopted their own resolution on the pork crisis last week, and are holding Committee of the Whole hearings to inquire into related issues of alleged corruption in the pork importation system, among others.
The senator recalled that the DA had sent to the Palace last week its own draft declaration of a state of emergency due to ASF, a highly contagious and fatal hog disease that has caused the loss of 3 million heads of swine.
However, he noted, “the Senate resolution doesn’t only seek a state of emergency declaration,” but also addresses the impact of the twin DA proposals to increase the MAV or import quotas to 400 million metric tons while slashing tariffs to 5 percent.
Pangilinan said that nonetheless, a state of emergency declaration as pitched by DA is necessary, because it would give the national government leeway to augment the DA’s funds for dealing with ASF. Right now, he added that DA’s war chest against ASF for 2021 is only P3.6 billion, “but they need over P8 billion.”
Pangilinan said in a radio interview over the weekend “we want to bring down cost,” as prices of pork are now hovering at an average of P400, “assuming you can find it,” but this cannot be done at the risk of killing the local hog sector, which, he noted is “a P300-billion industry.”
Recent Senate hearings led by the Agriculture Committee of Sen. Cynthia Villar had shown that even at current tariff rates, the pork traders are “already earning so much,” Pangilinan said. If the corruption factor and technical smuggling issues raised by Sen. Panfilo Lacson were considered, the profits of importers would be even higher.
At the same time. Pangilinan also aired concerns over how slashing tariffs would shrink, not just the government’s revenue, but the proceeds that are used to benefit the affected sector, in this case, the hog industry ravaged by ASF the past two years.
With very low tariffs, “how can we help the affected sector?” he asked in a mix of English and Filipino.
The senator clarified, though, that he did not totally reject increasing import quotas as a tool for stabilizing local prices, but thinks the country does not need to raise the MAV to 400 MMT. “Do we really need all that? I don’t think so,” he added.