Philippine agriculture

Dominguez defends pork imports EO: ‘Trade-off beneficial to entire country’

Mara Cepeda

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Dominguez defends pork imports EO: ‘Trade-off beneficial to entire country’

DEFENDING THE ORDER. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III defends Executive Order No. 128 on pork imports during the Senate committee of the whole hearing on April 27, 2021.

Screenshot from the Senate of the Philippines' YouTube account

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III says Executive Order No. 128 may initially seem like a 'painful solution,' but he claims the policy would save consumers P67.38 billion

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told senators who are strongly opposing the executive order (EO) reducing taxes on pork imports that the trade-off would ultimately benefit cash-strapped Filipinos.

The Department of Finance chief defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s EO No. 128 as the Senate committee of the whole resumed its hearing on the impact of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak on Tuesday, April 27.

Dominguez said EO 128 may initially appear to be a “painful solution” due to a drop in government revenue, but he estimated that the policy would save consumers some P67.38 billion.

“Our revenues will drop by P13.68 billion. However, lowering the price of pork will save our consumers P67.38 billion. These gains of consumers dwarf the foregone revenues by P53.7 billion. Clearly, this is a trade-off beneficial to the entire country,” the finance secretary said.

Dominguez defends pork imports EO: ‘Trade-off beneficial to entire country’

Legislators from both chambers of Congress are currently at loggerheads with the executive branch as they formalized their call for Duterte to revoke EO 128, which temporarily reduces import taxes on chilled and fresh pork meat to address the supply shortage and soaring prices.

Senators in particular not only want the President to scrap EO 128, but to also set aside his initial proposal to Congress to increase the minimum access volume or the number of allowable pork imports with lower tariffs to 350,000 metric tons from the current 54,000 MT.

They said lowering the tariffs on imported pork, even temporarily, would kill the local hog industry which is already facing the double crises of the ASF outbreak and the coronavirus pandemic. 

But Dominguez said the EO is the “short-term and only practicable strategy” to stabilize pork prices and help lower inflation.

He cited data from the Bureau of Animal Industry showing that in 2020, the Philippines imported 256,017 MT of pork meat. But of this amount, about 163,500 metric tons were in the form of offals, fat, and pork skin – which are not the cuts of pork meat that Filipinos usually eat like kasim or liempo.

Dominguez said EO 128 was also not created haphazardly, since it went through “extensive deliberation and consultation” with agencies and stakeholders. 

“The temporary increase in pork imports will not kill the local hog industry as imports would potentially account for up to only 22.8% of total consumption,” he added.

“The worst we can do in a situation like the one we are facing today is to let supply issues force food prices up even more. If food prices rise, the inflation rate also increases. If inflation rate rises, interest rate increases will follow. This unhealthy chain of events will make economic recovery even more difficult for all.” 

Duterte has appealed to lawmakers to give his controversial EO two months to achieve its goal, with Malacañang asking Congress to refrain from passing a joint resolution that would effectively revoke the President’s order.

The earliest that Congress can scrap EO 128 is May 17, when session resumes. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are currently on a two-month break. – Rappler.com

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Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.