The Department of Agriculture has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a national state of emergency to address the threat of African swine fever (ASF), which caused the decimation of the pig population, tight pork supply, and high market prices.
At the same time, the DA has created a special committee to look into allegations of corruption in the allocation of meat import certificates under the in-quota Minimum Access Volume scheme.
“While we stand firm that the issuance of MAV in-quota allocation is above-board and non-discretionary, we have created a special committee to look into allegations made by a lawmaker that there is a syndicate in the DA engaged in a payoff scheme,” DA Secretary William Dar said.
In a memorandum signed by Dar and submitted to the President through Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the DA drafted a proclamation “declaring a State of National Emergency to prevent the further spread of African Swine Fever by implementing biosecurity measures to jumpstart the rehabilitation of the swine industry and appropriating funds thereof.”
In the memo, Dar said the ASF had “spread to 12 regions, 40 provinces, 466 cities and municipalities, and 2,425 barangays to date.”
“Over three million heads of pig have been lost due to the disease, causing contraction in pork supply and an unprecedented increase in the price of basic agricultural commodities.”
Once a state of emergency is declared, the DA can tap the government’s quick response fund, a standby fund for relief and recovery programs in times of disasters, calamities, epidemics, or complex emergencies.
Senator Panfilo Lacson on Wednesday filed a resolution calling for the constitution of the Senate Committee of the Whole (COW) to investigate the alleged “tongpats” mess at the Department of Agriculture.
“I am recommending that the Senate convene into a Committee of the Whole to handle the investigation. The ‘tongpats’ mess has an impact on foregone revenue and corruption, food security, and health,” Lacson said in filing Resolution 685.
He said the COW is best suited to conduct the probe instead of having the Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committees on Agriculture, Ways and Means, and Health handle it separately.
“My resolution seeking the investigation in aid of legislation may also seek to revisit Republic Act 10611 or the Food Security Act of 2013 to address possible loopholes that are being exploited,” Lacson added.
Also in the Senate, Senator Francis Pangilinan wants government to provide health kits and financial assistance to the country’s almost 1.5 million fisherfolk, who are suffering from low selling price due to checkpoints and access to ice for their catch.
On Wednesday, Ruperto Aleroza, Poverty Commission’s Vice Chairman for Basic Sectors, met with Panglinan’s staff and said that fisherfolk were among those hard hit due to limitations in movement during the pandemic.
Dar said the declaration of national emergency would mandate and capacitate government agencies, including the local government units, to work together to prevent and control the spread of ASF.
Duterte earlier issued an executive order imposing a price cap on pork products as requested by the DA due to soaring pork prices caused by the ASF problem and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the executive order, the price cap for kasim and pigue was set at P270 per kilo, P300 for liempo, and P160 for dressed chicken per kilo. The price cap will last for 60 days.
The DA is proposing to increase the minimum access volume on pork imports to 400,000 metric tons from the current 54,000 metric tons to augment domestic supply due to the constraints brought by the African swine fever.
It is also proposing to lower tariffs from 30 percent to 5 percent for this year.
The special committee is headed by the Department’s legal service chief, and will base its inquiry on the initial findings of the DA-MAV Secretariat.
The allegation of corruption to get a MAV import certificate is remote, the DA-MAV Secretariat said, as the existing licensees are the same ones every year, and who were previously accredited by the past DA administrations.
Further, there are no disparities between the allocations of the current MAV licensees and those given prior to the current DA administration, the MAV Secretariat said in its report to Secretary Dar.
“We would like to emphasize that our objective in increasing the MAV and reducing tariff is to stabilize supply and price of pork,” the DA chief said.
Under the MAV scheme, the DA issues MAV Import Certificate to MAV licensees that may avail part of the annual in-quota allocation of 54,000 metric tons and pay a tariff of 30 percent. Firms wanting to import beyond the MAV volume, called out-quota, will have to pay a higher tariff of 40 percent.
The DA-MAV Secretariat imposes penalties on licensees that were not able to utilize 70 percent of their allocation for the year. The unused volume is recalled and deducted from the licensee and will be raffled off to qualified applicants.
In addition to securing a MAV import certificate, licensees need to seek Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) from the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to ensure that pork or other meat products are safe, hygienic, and disease-free — and do not compromise public health and safety.
The DA does not allow imports of meat and processed meat products from countries where there are existing major animal diseases.
Lacson earlier disclosed that a syndicate operating within the DA stood to gain billions of pesos from the department’s recommendation to lower tariff rates on imported pork production and increase the minimum access volume to augment local supply amid the African swine fever outbreak in the country.
The anomalies, Lacson said, would amount to a triple whammy that would threaten to kill the domestic hog industry, raise health concerns and cost the government forgone revenues.
Lacson said if the tariff for importations was brought down and the MAV was increased, the syndicate could jack up its “tong-pats” from the current P5-7 per kilo to P10-15 per kilo — easily earning at least P4 billion from the planned 400,000 MT allocation.
Lacson said backyard hog raisers were barely surviving amid the ASF crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
They will be adversely affected, Lacson said, if the local market is flooded with imported pork and pork products, including those imported from countries with an existing ban due to ASF.
“This practice has been going on for several years now. For example, between June and October 2018, imported pork from banned countries due to the ASF like Belgium, Hungary, Germany, and China flooded the local market,” he said.
