Angara wants stronger laws for agri protection

Sen. Edgardo Angara called yesterday for a congressional review of the three major laws that protect local agriculture and industries from unfair trading practices and the ravages of globalization to prop up and strengthen these laws.

Angara said that the three laws — the Anti-Dumping Act, the Safeguards Act and the Countervailing Act — can still be improved to ensure maximum protection for agriculture and industry.

While the laws provide some protection to agriculture and domestic industries, still the level of protection is not enough to cushion the impact of unfair and injurious trade, said Angara, also president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP).

Angara, then agriculture secretary, pushed hard for the passage of the three measures in 1999.

Angara said that while the executive branch is the principal player in protecting domestic industries from unfair global trade, the legislators should also play a major role in protecting agriculture and domestic industries from unfair trading practices.

He said he has filed two such bills in Congress, the proposed P1 billion Emergency Coconut Assistance and the Mindanao Incentives Development Act.