‘Quinta comm probe should lead to charges’

MANILA, Philippines — The investigation being conducted by the House quinta committee should lead to the filing of charges and conviction of traders involved in hoarding and profiteering, farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura said yesterday.

SINAG executive director Jayson Cainglet was referring to the ongoing investigation by the panel on alleged anomalies in the supply and distribution of rice.

“What we want, especially on the part of the local producers, is that the hearings will lead to conviction as there were accusations that there is cartel, profiteering and hoarding but unfortunately, there were no arrests made and no cases have yet been filed,” he stressed.

The quinta panel comprises the committees on ways and means, trade and industry, agriculture and food, social services and the special committee on food security. The committee, headed by Albay Rep. Joel Salceda, is investigating the possible collusion among rice importers and traders in manipulating the prices of the staple.

Cainglet noted that under the newly signed Republic Act 12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, no bail is allowed for those who will be charged.

“The law is strong. Under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law, those who will be charged should be jailed as it is non-bailable,” Cainglet added, emphasizing the need to implement the law in January.

“(President Marcos) mentioned that smuggling of frozen mackerel would be the first case under the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Law. We are hoping that the producers and even consumers will have a merry Christmas,” he further stated.

At least 580 metric tons or P178.5 million worth of smuggled frozen mackerel were seized at the Manila International Container Port last October.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. has identified the importer of 31 container vans of smuggled frozen mackerel as the Pacific Sealand Foods Corp.

At the same time, Cainglet said consumers did not fully enjoy their Christmas bonus and 13th month pay as the retail prices of basic commodities like pork and chicken remain high.

He noted that the retail prices of these meats remain high despite the low farmgate price of the commodities.

“For the past two months, the farmgate price of chicken was only P90 (per kilo), almost the value of the cost of production for chicken,” he said.

He added that the farmgate price of pork was also stable between P180 and P200 per kilo but the retail price remained high at P400 per kilo.

“Pork shoulder and pork belly are sold from P380 to P400 per kilo. Those who already received their Christmas bonus and 13th month cannot afford to buy delicious food for their Noche Buena because of its high cost,” Cainglet noted.

He called on the authorities to have the political power to go after hoarders and profiteers.

“They (authorities) know the identities of importers, wholesalers and retailers. They just need political power so that those involved in price manipulation will be charged,” he said.

Stable prices

Retail pork prices next year are expected to remain stable or even soften as domestic supplies improve on the back of continued repopulation of pigs and changes in movement policies of the government.

“The domestic pig industry is anticipated to post a ‘good’ production recovery as hog raisers are doubling down on biosecurity measures coupled by the expected commercialization of the vaccine against African swine fever (ASF),” Tiu Laurel said.

He added that proposed changes in the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s zoning policies on ASF would contribute to better pork supplies next year as the agency is now drafting the modified zoning plan that would just identify municipalities, whether they have confirmed outbreaks of ASF or none.

The modification does away with the current color coding practice of identifying the ASF status of a given municipality.

At present, the Bureau of Animal Industry implements the national zoning and movement plan that serves as the overarching framework for the transport of pigs and pig products to and from areas, depending on their ASF situation.

Under the plan, areas are identified by colors depending on their ASF risks such as red for infected areas, yellow for surveillance zones and dark green for low-risk and ASF-free areas.

“It is either ASF-free or not. It is easier. Because right now there is a stigma among hog raisers and that is why they do not want to report their disease situation because they do not want to be in the red zone,” Tiu Laurel said.

“That system already has a negative connotation with everybody. So we have to change it and copy the best practices of other countries that, you know, is it (the area) free from the disease or not?” he added.

Tiu Laurel expounded that under the new plan, which is expected to take effect next month, the DA would implement a test-and-ship policy that would enable hog raisers in ASF-infected areas to transport their pigs as long as they test negative for the disease.

This, the agriculture chief said, would ensure the continuous flow of pork supply nationwide without sacrificing biosecurity measures against the fatal hog disease.

Under present rules, local government units ban outright the entry of any pork supply from a declared ASF red zone even if some farms in the identified area are free from the disease. This leads to a situation where one area has a pork surplus while others have a shortfall, thus resulting in price disparities.

“That will basically stabilize the market for pork. We will avoid imbalance in supplies wherein prices in one area collapse while in another area prices are high,” he said. “This should lower the average price of pork.” — Jasper Emmanuel Arcalas