Pres Marcos Appealed to Help Farmers Amid Cheap Imports

Farmer groups and agriculture stakeholders appealed to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to protect fishers and farmers from cheap imports.

In a joint statement, the groups reminded the President of his statement, saying that “relying primarily on imports makes the Philippines vulnerable to supply disruptions from external factors like the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and climate change.”

“In his inaugural address, President Marcos pointed out that food is not only a tradable commodity or source of livelihood. Food, he stressed, is an existential imperative because, without it, people weaken and die; societies come apart,”  mentioned the groups.

The groups likewise mentioned how there are “some forces” in the Marcos administration that are against the President’s policy declarations.

“They seek to continue the past regime’s trade liberalization agenda of opening our local markets to more and cheaper imports. This is highlighted by the veiled attempt of our current economic managers to extend the validity of Executive Order [EO] No. 171—after Congress begins its December recess.”

The EO was issued back in Mary 2021 by then President Duterte and was targeted to tackle the issues of increasing prices of corn, rice, and pork by decreasing tariffs until the end of 2022.

“Now, they want to keep the low tariffs until end-December 2023, citing the lingering effects of Covid and the war in Ukraine. Despite the huge import volumes engendered by EO 171, consumers continue to reel from high food prices.”

The group has stated that the import surge did not benefit the consumers but brought farmgate prices down.

Source: Business Mirror