Government to lose P11B if pork tariffs cut – Pangilinan

Senator Kiko Pangilinan on Sunday estimated that the government will lose about P11 billion in tariff revenue should the pork tariffs be reduced from 30 percent to 5 percent.

“Ang estima namin mga 11 billion pesos eh,” he said in a media interview on how much the government may lose on its plan to cut tariffs in response to the African swine fever (ASF) that has reduced pork supply and raised pork prices.

“At ‘yung taripa, ang layunin nyan [ay] para ‘yung industriya na apektado ay pwedeng gamitin ‘yung pondo para mabigyan ng suporta,” he added.

Pangilinan said this means the source of financial support for the domestic hog-raisers will also be reduced.

“Mawawala din ‘yung suporta sa magbababoy kung ibababa ang taripa. Eh talagang mayroong malaki, tiba-tiba, ang kumikita rito. Binaba na ang taripa, tinaas pa ‘yung volume nung pwedeng i-import,” he said.

Based on Pangilinan’s computations, at the current 30 percent in-quota tariff, the collections for imported frozen carcass would be 13.8 billion pesos, assuming the Minimum Access Volume for port is increased to 404,210 metric tons. If the tariff is reduced to 5 percent, the collection would be 2.3 billion pesos, a difference of 11.5 billion pesos.

“Ang sinasabi ng DA, P2.6 billion lang ang pondo nila ngayon for 2021 sa African swine fever. Ang budget nila na estima nila para matugunan ito ay halos mahigit 8 billion pesos. So may halos 6 billion pesos na kulang,” he said.

Pangilinan also suggested that affected hog farmers should be given cash for work opportunities.

“Habang malaki ang nawala nilang kita dyan sa babuyan nila dahil naubos, nangalahati na, bigyan sila ng cash for work para meron pa rin silang kinikita at panggastos sa araw-araw at sila ang imobilisa para sa border control, biosafety protocol, pagbabantay, pagdi-disinfect, etc. At ‘yung pondo na ‘yon, manggagaling nga sa calamity fund,” Pangilinan said.

Last week, the Senate adopted a resolution calling for the constitution of the committee of the whole to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the food crisis brought about by the severe impacts of the ASF outbreak.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)