Senator Grace Poe has appealed to the executive department to heed the call of livestock raisers and rice farmers against the proposed lowering of tariffs on imported pork and rice.

She maintained that the proposal of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ease importation for a year would only further discourage local production.

"African swine fever (ASF) wiped out pig farms in most of Luzon with big conglomerates now stepping back. How will local production recover if we flood the market with imports without the necessary assurance that pork and pork products that are sold in the market are free of the disease?" Poe said in a statement on Wednesday, March 3.

She said the DA was "inept" for handling of ASF outbreak, and "for not hearing out its constituents whom it should be advocating for." "It was the DA that petitioned the Tariff Commission (TC) to lower tariffs on pork and rice despite the objections and the strong arguments against it from hog raisers and rice farmers. After failing to hear them out, the DA didn’t even have the research to support the lowering of tariffs or explain its proposal during the hearings," Poe said.

According to Poe, the TC conducted last February 4 a hearing on the proposed lowering of tariffs on pork and rice imports but the "DA had no presentation that would explain why tariffs should be lowered." Instead, she said "it was the Department of Finance (DOF) that attempted to justify why tariffs on rice imports ought to be lowered." "It is unsettling to see the DOF advocating a cut in tariffs especially now when it has been relying on borrowings for its spending as tax collection is down. Hog raisers have been begging to keep the existing tariff structure as lowering it will only ensure bigger profits for importers and lower collection for government. It is baffling to see both the DA and the DOF pushing for moves contrary to their mandates," the senator lamented.

The DA specifically proposed the lowering of tariffs on pork imports to five percent for those brought in under the minimum access volume (MAV) from the current 30 percent to 5 percent in the first six months and to 10 percent in the next six months.

For pork imports outside the MAV, the agency proposed a reduction to 15 percent for pork from the current 40 percent and then 20 percent in the next six months.

The DA also suggested that for rice imports, tariffs should be reduced to 35 percent from the current 40 percent rate for those brought in MAV.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar earlier said they will not withdraw their recommendation despite opposition from groups, as well as lawmakers. The DA also submitted to Malacañang its draft executive order on the lowered tariffs.

"By junking the DA’s proposal, we hit two birds with one stone. We help farmers and hog raisers and government gets to collect revenues. How could its proposal be allowed to go so far," Poe appealed.