MANILA, Philippines — Increasing pork imports may kill the local hog industry faster than the African swine fever (ASF), some senators warned yesterday.
The warning comes as the Senate committee on agriculture and food, chaired by Sen. Cynthia Villar, launches today its inquiry into the rising prices of basic commodities.
Senators Imee Marcos and Francis Pangilinan in separate statements criticized the “kneejerk reaction” of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to import more agricultural products when there are other options that could be used to complement programs to boost local production.
Marcos said the government should prevent pork importers from taking over the local market supply and pushing Filipino producers out of business.
“The slaughter of our local hog raisers will begin if the Department of Agriculture executes its plan to raise the minimum access volume of pork imports by as much as three times the present 54,000 metric tons,” Marcos pointed out.
“The DA may be overcompensating in its rush to increase imports to reduce consumer prices. It may deal the coup de grace to our pork industry before Vietnam could release a vaccine against ASF later this year,” she added.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, said the DA should instead speed up its investigation into the hoarding of pork products that may be causing an artificial hike in market prices amid the spread of ASF, particularly in Luzon.
“Many local hog raisers have already shut down their business. Importation amid the COVID-19 pandemic means more local jobs will be lost and surrendering the country’s food security to foreigners,” she said.
Prices of pork imports from the US, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Brazil suggested excessive profits were being made at the expense of consumers, she added.
Marcos cited the import cost of a 40-foot container of frozen pork belly or liempo from Spain was P117.87 per kilo, already including a 40 percent tariff.
“Compare that to its market price of as much as P450 per kilo. Even if you add cold chain, storage and outlet delivery costs, the meat importer’s costs would only amount to about P153 per kilo,” she said.
Besides arresting hoarders and profiteers, the senator said the government could also bring down meat prices by subsidizing the cost of transporting pork products to Luzon, which imports about 80 percent of its supply from the Visayas and Mindanao.
She pointed out that the DA got the single biggest item for emergency and stimulus funding under Bayanihan 2, amounting to P24 billion.
“DA’s spending must be investigated, as well as the failure of the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) to implement its suggested retail prices,” Marcos suggested.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said he already warned the DA last November about the surge in prices following the three successive typhoons.
Recto said the DA has enough funds in its budget to undertake rehabilitation and assist farmers.
Pangilinan said the objective of the hearing—which will also be jointly held with the committees on trade and on sustainable development goals, chaired by Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Pia Cayeteno—is to ensure that every Filipino consumer, especially the poor, has access to adequate and affordable food.
Pangilinan said agriculture could be the engine of economic growth, given that everyone needs to eat.
“We are a largely agricultural country. Let us strive to be a powerhouse in food production and distribution. We just need to focus on the food supply system, starting with the farmers and the fisherfolk,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has directed local government units to impose their own orders imposing a ban on the entry of hogs and related products to their jurisdictions amid concerns over the spread of ASF.
DILG spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that executive orders should be in place to restrict or limit the entry of pigs, hogs and related items in the localities. These measures, he added, should be aligned and consistent with national policies while ensuring food security for their constituents.
He also said that actions of LGUs must be coordinated with the DA field offices for consistency with the ASF zoning classification system or containment zones to isolate the ASF disease. The zone classifications are regularly reviewed and updated depending on the epidemiological changes of the disease.
Malaya said LGUs should also ensure that there would still be an unhampered flow of cargoes, including food and non-food items, even during the enhanced community quarantine to avoid any threat of shortage of food staples.
Under DILG memorandum circular 2021-006, LGUs that fail to abide by the directives will be reprimanded and be issued a show cause order. Repeated violations could also lead to the filing of charges against local executives. – Romina Cabrera