Government urged to consider withdrawal from WTO

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon called yesterday on the government to study the possibility of getting out of the World Trade Organization after noting its adverse effects on Philippine industries.

At a hearing by the Senate committee on trade and industry headed by Sen. Robert Jaworski, Biazon said the WTO had allowed industrialized countries to subsidize agriculture, while bearing down hard on the Philippines in any similar move.

"I was in Germany the other week, and I read that industrialized countries are subsiding their agricultural industry to the tune of $1 billion a year. There is also an ongoing conference in Brussels where the European Union is discussing agriculture subsidies," he said.

Biazon charged that because of the reduced tariffs in the Philippines for imported goods and the high subsidies given by foreign government, imported products could be sold in the Philippines much cheaper than locally produced ones.

"A tomato paste plant in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, is closing down because of the entry of cheap tomato paste from China," he added.

He warned that unless the government acts, the Philippines would soon be nothing but a mere market for foreign products.

The Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) also told the Jaworski committee that strong import surges, encouraged by the regime of zero-to five-percent tariff, has caused the closure of 53 firms, resulting in the loss of 79,519 jobs.

"Some 29 firms downsized their operations and laid off some 4,019 workers," added Joseph Francia, FPI secretary general.

Former Sen. Wigberto Tañada blamed government representatives for declaring more commodities to be tariff-free than the Philippines has committed to do, and even ahead of schedule.

Tañada, representative of the Fair Trade Alliance, said that the reduction of tariff on numerous items, even of the Philippines was not obliged to, was done without consultation with the affected industries.

"This exposed local industries to premature competition. While other countries sought to maintain the high tariff wall, we were doing the opposite," he lamented.

He said that the cement, textile, pulp, paper, footwear, tire, furniture, ceramics, agriculture, garments, agriculture and petrochemical industries suffered from the government’s tariff reduction program, the implementation of the Asean Free Trade Agreement and WTO commitments.