A party-list lawmaker on Wednesday snapped at the Department of Agriculture for its planned importation of around 17,000 metric tons of galunggong (round scads), saying the move was not only an insult to Filipino fishers but would kill their livelihood.
‘‘When it comes to plugging the problem of skyrocketing prices of basic goods, the Duterte [administration] has become addicted to importation not to fill up the supply but in fact to suppress the inflation which was caused mainly by the implementation of his flagship tax-raising project, the [Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion] law,” Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao said.
“The Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority have only one thing in mind every time they try to explain the problem of continuing price spikes of basic commodities in the local market. They think of massive importation as a magic wand that will make inflation disappear if they wagged it strongly and repeatedly enough,” Casilao, member of the Makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives, said.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has allowed the importation of fresh and/or frozen round scad for 90 days starting Sept. 1 to ease the tight supply of commercial fishes, thus reducing the price of this fish staple.
The Fisheries Bureau issued the order after some sectors proposed the importation of critical commodities whereby the lack of supply fanned the nation’s inflation rate.
Also, recent studies and statistical data revealed a consistent decrease in the production of galunggong in the Philippine waters, which resulted in the need to import around 17, 000 metric tons of round scad.
The bureau noted that it was not the first time that the Philippines imported galunggong from overseas.
The country has been, in fact, importing fresh/chilled/frozen fish and fishery/aquatic products including galunggong only for canning and processing purposes including importation undertaken by institutional buyers like hotels and restaurants as allowed by the law since years ago.
The bureau assured the fisheries sector and stakeholders that the importation and unloading activities would adhere to a stringent set of guidelines and will be strictly monitored by the Bureau and the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority.
More importantly, the general consuming public is assured that the imported galunggong will be unloaded only in accredited cold storage facilities and will undergo a thorough inspection to ensure that the commodities are guaranteed safe and free of harmful substances.
In a related development:
• Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo called on the public to report to the government any incident of formalin use in fish and other seafood products in the markets.
Once a complaint was received, they can subject the fishes to a test.
He said the test could also be done by the Bureau of Fisheries under the Department of Agriculture if they were still unprocessed.
But if processed, they would be tested by the FDA, he said.
Domingo issued the statement following the disclosure of Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas president Ferdinand Hicap that some imported seafood products, including galunggong, were injected with formalin to be sold in Philippine markets.
In an interview over Dobol B sa News TV, Domingo also cited reports that frozen galunggong from China were injected with formalin.
‘‘They were surprised that frozen galunggong from China were still fresh when they arrived in the country. And yet, they’re still frozen. So we still do not know if they’re freshly frozen right after catching or preservative was added, and we have to test po para malaman,” Domingo said.
He assured that the DoH would coordinate with the Department of Agriculture for the testing of the goods.
Domingo said formalin was a toxic substance and could not be used as a preservative for any fish or meat for consumption.
It is also deadly, with 30 ml enough to kill an adult, and it could cause cancer later if consumed in small amounts.
Casilao said he found it ironic that the Philippines consists of 7,100 islands, an archipelago with a 2.2 million square kilometers of seas known to house an abundance of various types of fish.
“But now we are exporting fish. Certainly, this is alarming,” he said.
Galunggong is called the poor man’s fish because of its affordability.
Casilao cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority which revealed that in 2016; fisheries production totaled 4.36 million metric tons, down from 4.65 million in 2015 and from 4.69 million in 2014. In the first half of 2017, total fisheries output came to 2.13 million tons, a 0.2 percent decline from the same period in 2016.
The PSA added that by species, round scads posted the biggest rate of decline, by 19.4 percent from a year ago to a volume of 59,000 metric tons in the second quarter, he added.