Tag: Executive Order 128

Statements

On the President’s ‘Appeal’ to Senators to Give EO 128 a Chance
President Duterte’s Executive Order 128

First, the Senate has no choice since the reduced tariff rates and the increased in-quota MAV have already taken effect.

Second, kung meron lang sanang nangyaring inter-departmental courtesy consultation, since EO 128 is a consequence of a delegated authority granted by Congress to the President anyway, we could have given our input based on our own consultations and research.

For example, the National Economic and Development Authority’s conclusion that demand for pork has not changed in spite of the pandemic is flawed. As I had pointed out during the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing, the 50% contraction registered by the hotel and restaurant operations should easily affect demand since the pre-pandemic 8.2 million foreign tourists are now eating pork somewhere else outside the country. Thus, at 15 kilograms of pork consumption per capita as estimated would mean 120 million kilograms less pork. That should be substantial enough to consider when they came up with the 350,000,000 kilograms in additional in-quota MAV allocation.

That being said, the appeal might as well be directed toward the 80,000 backyard hog raisers, their families, farm hands and all others now being affected by the EO, both directly and indirectly.

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Radio, Statements

Ping: Mga Naagrabyado sa Talamak na Katiwalian sa DA, Maaring Mahikayat ng NPA

Hindi lamang ang kasiguruhan ng bansa sa pagkain ang nanganganib sa walang habas na katiwalian sa Department of Agriculture (DA) kundi pati na rin ang pambansang seguridad.

Ito ang nakikita ni Senador Panfilo Lacson matapos na mabunyag ang mga gawain tulad ng pagpupuslit papasok sa bansa ng mga pagkain at iba pang produktong agrikultura sa kabila ng produksiyon ng mga ito buhat sa mga lokal na magsasaka.

“There is nothing more basic than food, especially in a pandemic. If corruption infects the Department of Agriculture that should be at the forefront of food security efforts, it goes beyond human conscience. Wala na. Saan pa tayo pupulutin kung ang mga walang kaluluwa walang konsensya pati pagkain ng ordinaryong Pilipino di papatawarin?” mariing pahayag ni Lacson sa panayam sa kanya ng DZBB radio.

“May kumita na sa PPE, may kumita kung saan-saan, may kumita sa smuggling. Pati ba naman itong pagkain sa hapag-kainan, titirahin pa rin?” dismayadong pahayag ng senador.

Related: Lacson Warns: Corruption at DA Threatens Food Security, National Security
Continue reading “Ping: Mga Naagrabyado sa Talamak na Katiwalian sa DA, Maaring Mahikayat ng NPA” →

Radio, Statements

Lacson Warns: Corruption at DA Threatens Food Security, National Security

Mga walang kaluluwa, walang konsensya!

Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson thus scored on Sunday those behind the corruption at the Department of Agriculture, who he said threaten not just the country’s food security but also national security.

“There is nothing more basic than food, especially in a pandemic. If corruption infects the Department of Agriculture that should be at the forefront of food security efforts, it goes beyond human conscience. Wala na. Saan pa tayo pupulutin kung ang mga walang kaluluwa walang konsensya pati pagkain ng ordinaryong Pilipino di papatawarin?” Lacson said in an interview on DZBB radio.

“May kumita na sa PPE, may kumita kung saan-saan, may kumita sa smuggling. Pati ba naman itong pagkain sa hapag-kainan, titirahin pa rin?” he added.

Related: Ping: Mga Naagrabyado sa Talamak na Katiwalian sa DA, Maaring Mahikayat ng NPA
Continue reading “Lacson Warns: Corruption at DA Threatens Food Security, National Security” →

Statements

Ping: Higit P1-B Nawawala Kada Taon sa ‘Smuggling’ ng Isda at Seafoods

Bukod sa baboy at manok, nawawalan ng bilyon-bilyong piso ang gobyerno kada taon dahil sa katiwalian sa pag-import ng isda at iba pang produktong dagat.

Isiniwalat ito ni Senador Panfilo Lacson sa pagpapatuloy ng pagdinig ng Senate Committee of the Whole tungkol sa iregularidad sa produktong agrikultura.

Kinwestyon ni Lacson ang malaking pagkakaiba sa datos ng World Trade Organization (WTO) at Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) tungkol sa pag-import ng isda at seafood mula 2015 hanggang 2020.

“The Department of Agriculture will have a lot of explaining to do. The discrepancies may mean there is a lot of misdeclaration, underdeclaration, or outright smuggling. There’s a pattern,” dugtong ng mambabatas.

Continue reading “Ping: Higit P1-B Nawawala Kada Taon sa ‘Smuggling’ ng Isda at Seafoods” →

Statements

Hindi lang Pork at Chicken! Lacson Bares P1.058B a Year Lost to ‘Smuggling’ of Fish, Seafood

Aside from pork and poultry, the government is also losing billions of pesos a year due to irregular practices involving the importation of fish and seafood products, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson bared Thursday.

Lacson questioned the huge discrepancies between the records of the World Trade Organization and the Philippine Statistics Authority in terms of fish and seafood importation from the top 15 exporting countries from 2015 to 2020.

“The Department of Agriculture will have a lot of explaining to do. The discrepancies may mean there is a lot of misdeclaration, underdeclaration, or outright smuggling. There’s a pattern,” he said at the second hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on irregularities involving agricultural products.

“It’s not just in pork and poultry products where there are irregularities. It cuts across practically all FSRAs (food safety regulatory agencies). What action has the DA taken? The bottom line is that we have lost so much revenues – some P1.058 billion yearly from 2015 to 2020 in foregone revenues on imported fish and seafoods alone on account of all these discrepancies,” he added.

Continue reading “Hindi lang Pork at Chicken! Lacson Bares P1.058B a Year Lost to ‘Smuggling’ of Fish, Seafood” →

Statements

On the President’s Possible Recall of Executive Order 128

Well and good if it actually happens. It would mean that the President is not impervious to valid criticisms against an ill-advised course of action that will bring more harm than good on all practical aspects involving the hog industry.

I hope the President considers the plight of the dying industry affecting 80,000 backyard hog raisers along with hundreds of thousands of farmhands and their families – and the foregone revenues the government will deal with, especially at this time of the pandemic.

That being said, Department of Agriculture officials claimed during the Senate hearing to have based their action on their own analysis, which could be self-serving and designed to suit their purpose.

We based our opposition and arguments on the data provided by the Philippine Statistics Authority. If you ask me, I’ll take the side of data anytime.

Thus – with an average yearly surplus of 400 million kilos from local hog production for the three-year period 2018-2020, it defies logic why they still allowed the importation of almost 200 million kilos year-on-year for the same period.

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