SENATE President Vicente Sotto III yesterday pressed Agriculture Secretary William Dar to reveal the identities of individuals who lobbied for the issuance of Executive Order 128 which lowered the tariff and increased import quotas on pork products.
“I want to know whose bright idea it was to hike the import ceiling and lower import taxes on pork. Who recommended this from the DA? Why do they want us to import beyond what is required and at the same time lower tariffs? What is the logical explanation here?” Sotto asked.
Sotto said he would compel Dar to name who pushed for the signing of the EO 128 when the Senate Committee of the Whole conducts its third hearing on the matter.
Sotto said EO 128, which lowered the taxes and increased the minimum access volume (MAV) on imported pork products, is contrary to President Duterte’s guarantee that the prices of pork and other food products will remain accessible to the people, especially now that the country’s economic standing is weak amid the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.
“I believe that the President intended the EO to assure our people that government is in control and that the welfare of our hog raisers, fishermen and farmers will always be the priority. This EO is supposed to be in line with the intentions of the President, but the end product is not. He would not have signed this if he knew that his order will have a negative impact on the hog and agriculture industries. He would not have signed this if no one lobbied for it,” Sotto said.
“If it is not the DA who pushed for EO 128, then who? I want them to answer these questions: Is EO 128 for the progress of the Philippines? Can this help Filipinos or will this benefit just a few businessmen and politicians?” Sotto added.
Duterte issued EO 128 in a bid to stabilize the supply and prices of pork in local markets due to the impact of the African swine fever.
EO 128, which was signed by the President while Congress was in recess, reduced the tariff rate on pork imports within the minimum access volume (MAV) to 5 percent for the first three months upon the effectivity of the executive order and to 10 percent for the fourth to 12th month from the current rate of 30 percent.
Pork imports outside the MAV were also reduced with a lower tariff of 15 percent for the first three months and 20 percent for the succeeding nine months from the current rate of 40 percent.
Tariffs will revert to the old rate after one year.
Sotto, in an interview last Saturday, said he will call for another Senate COW hearing on the issue within the week.
The Senate Committee of the Whole is looking into the allegations of Sen. Panfilo Lacson on the alleged existence of a supposed syndicate within the DA which he said has been earning billions of pesos from “tong-pats” or padded costs of at least P5 to P7 per kilo when tariffs on imported pork products are reduced and MAV allocation is increased.
Lacson has been grilling Dar about the issue, insisting that the DA chief should know or should have at least heard of the scheme, especially since the Minimum Access Volume Management Committee is under his office. The MAVMC is composed of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
Aside from the padded costs, Lacson had also asked the Senate to check the supposed payment of “SOPs” in the allocation of quota to favored importers and the issuance of Phyto-Sanitary Import Clearances (PSIC). The scheme, he alleged, has allowed pork imports from banned countries due to the ASF like Belgium, Hungary, Germany and China to flood the local market.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Dar continues to enjoy the trust and confidence of President Duterte despite the opposition that the issuance of EO 128 has generated.
“It looks like the President still has confidence (on Dar) because he believed the advice of Secretary Dar which is opposite the stand of our senators,” he said.
Senators have asked the President to withdraw the executive order as they warned this would kill the local hog industry.
Majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, during the Laging Handa public briefing, reiterated the call of his fellow senators not to lower tariff on imported pork as the current pork prices, under the present tax dues, are “stable.”
He said millions of hog raisers and vendors would be affected by the entry of more imported pork and the lowered tariff on imported products.
Zubiri said the importation of more pork is simply a band-aid solution to the pork supply crisis.
At the same time, Zubiri reiterated his call for the declaration of a state of calamity on pork to enable the provision of more government assistance to hog raisers who have been affected by the ASF. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
