THE Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) on Monday slammed the proposal of former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the Duterte administration’s economic managers to allow what it described as “unli” or unlimited rice and fish importation through the lifting of the quantitative restriction on rice and the imposition of zero tariffs on imported fish.
Hog risers and poultry raisers had earlier cautioned against the strategy of scrapping the tariffs on meat and fish imports, which Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol was quoted to have expressed qualified support—that whatever move is taken will not “sacrifice” the local food producers.
A national organization of small fisherfolk federations and organizations, Pamalakaya described Arroyo’s proposal as the last nail in the coffin for Filipino farmers and fishermen.
A major producer of fish, the Philippines has experienced slight drops in production since 2015.
Fish production dropped by 5.62 percent to 4.194 million metric tons in 2016, from the 4.444 million MT in 2015. This continued in 2017 when fisheries production was down by 1 percent to 4.150 million MT from 4.194 million MT in 2016. The price of wild-caught fish —such as tuna, blue marlin, skipjack and grouper fish—is higher, with some reaching up to P300 to P450 per kilo.
Tilapia and bangus, the most common fish species raised in fish cages, cost P180 to P220 per kilo, depending on the size. The Philippines imports meat and fish to augment its local supply and keep prices down to an affordable level.
Arroyo, along with the economic managers of the Duterte administration, said the proposed policy on importation will address inflation as prices of goods, particularly basic commodities —mainly staple food, meat and fish—continue to go up.
Like hog raisers and poultry suppliers, Pamalakaya said the lifting of QR and zero tariffs on rice and fish will bring economic disaster to local food producers.
“We are already importing an average of 500,000 metric tons of fish every year. To set the tariff on imported fish down to zero will completely kill the livelihood of Filipino fisherfolk because the domestic market will primarily depend on marine and aquatic products coming from the foreign market. Everything on our table from rice to entrée will be imported,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairman, said in a statement.
The fisherfolk group claims shortage can never be the reason for the country’s relying on imports because, in the first place, it exports tons after tons of fish products every year. The group said, from 1994 up to the present, the Philippines’s marine exports rose to 120 percent, or a total of 333, 465 metric tons in 2013 alone. Pamalakaya noted the robust exports figure comes vis-a-vis the 15-percent loss of fish consumption in the country yearly.
“The unlimited importation of rice and fish will render the domestic market and local prices unstable. But, moreover, it will leave small farmers and fishers at the losing end because, while the government focuses on imports, local production remains backward as ever due to agriculture and economic policies dictated by foreign markets,” said the
Pamalakaya head.
“Flooding our local market with imported agricultural products will never bring food sustainability,” he added. What is needed is “to develop our agriculture through livelihood subsidy and our country to separate from unfair global economic and trade deals that promote liberalization, such as the World Trade Organization.”