The Senate is amenable to President Duterte's call to increase the minimum access volume (MAV) for pork imports, but hopes that the Chief Executive will not push for the lowering of their tariffs.

"Huwag naman (Please don't)," Senate President Vicente Sotto III said during the televised Laging Handa briefing on Saturday, March 27.

Sotto said the Senate already forwarded to Duterte the resolution which opposes the reduction of the tariff rates for imported pork products.

The measure, adopted by senators last March 15, asks the President to reject the Department of Agriculture's (DA) proposal to lower the tariffs for imports under the MAV from 30 percent to five to 10 percent. The agency also proposed the reduction of the current 40-percent tariff for out-quota imports.

At the same time, the DA wanted the MAV increased to boost the country's pork supply and address the rising cost of pork.

On Friday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed that Duterte pushes to raise the MAV from the current 54,210 metric tons (MT) to 350,000 MT within this year. There was no mention of the tariffs. 

"Kung tataasan natin , okay lang, payag kami. Pero huwag ibaba ang taripa. O kung gustong itaas, okay itaas, pero huwag ibababa 'yong taripa (If the MAV would be increased, the senators would be okay with it. But tariffs should not be reduced. Or if the government want to raise the tariffs, we're okay, too, just don't lower it)," Sotto said.

Echoing concerns from hog raisers, he said that with the increased MAV, there might be an oversupply of pork. "Eh ang mabigat doon, oversupply ka na tapos binaba mo naman ang taripa. Mawawala ang kita ng gobyerno dyan (What's worse is that we would have an oversupply with reduced tariffs. The government will lose revenues)," he raised.

"Para nating din-eath sentence 'yong mga local  producers natin, mga hog raiser natin (It's like were putting a death sentence on our local producers and hog raisers)," he also pointed out. 

Sotto, however, said he will ask the executive department for clarification as to why the President opted to forward the recommendation to Congress, when he can issue an executive order to its effect.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are currently on a legislative break and will resume regular session on May 17.

Meanwhile, Sotto reiterated the Upper Chamber's appeal for a declaration of a state of calamity due to African swine fever's (ASF) severe impact on the local hog industry.

Under the resolution, senators agree that “a declaration of a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to ASF will, among others, afford the Department of Agriculture, as well as local government units and other concerned agencies, ample latitude to utilize appropriate funds, including the Quick Response Fund, in their disaster preparedness and response efforts to address the ASF outbreak.”