Dept. of Agriculture asked to suspend pork, chicken importation

MANILA, Philippines – Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos is urging the Department of Agriculture (DA) to suspend  the supposed over-importation of pork and chicken meat to allow local raisers to recover their losses.

“We should suspend importation to give our local and backyard raisers breathing space to recover their losses. There’s already an oversupply of pork and chicken,” Marcos said.

“Are we going to accept this as a national policy? Bagsak ang presyo ng karneng baboy at manok. This is affecting our backyard raisers which comprise 65 percent of the total industry,” she added.

Marcos added that some backyard raisers are selling their products ‘at cost.’

“Our backyard raisers are selling at cost, and sometimes even at a loss. Some have been selling chicken at P50 per kilo when their investment is P70 per kilo,” she said.

Marcos also pressed the DA and the Bureau of Customs to boost their campaign against smuggling of agricultural products, which is declared as economic sabotage under Republic Act 10845, or the “Act Declaring Large-Scale Agricultural Smuggling as Economic Sabotage.”

“Rampant large-scale smuggling of agricultural products robs our local growers and farmers of their incomes. Smuggling or illicit trade of agricultural products is a major constraint to economic growth, and it affects job creation in rural areas, where majority of our poor Filipinos reside,” Marcos said. /gsg