Some senators on Sunday, March 28, admitted they are baffled at President Duterte’s recommendation to increase the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) for pork by 350,000 metric tons to augment the supply in the local market.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would immediately ask the Senate to start  investigating the anomalies surrounding the importation of pork and chicken at the Department of Agriculture (DA) right after the Holy Week.

Sotto, who will preside the Committee of the Whole’s hearing on the issue of allegations of “tongpats” or reported commissions for DA insiders of P5 to P7 per kilo of pork to be imported, said he will ask his colleagues to prioritize this issue right away.

Last March 26,  Malacanang confirmed that Duterte has recommended to Congress the increase in the MAV for pork by 350,000 metric tons, in addition to the current MAV of 54,210 MT for the year 2021.

Prior to this, Sen. Panfilo Lacson filed a resolution (Senate Resolution No. 685) calling on the Senate to probe into the alleged syndicate in the DA that are involved in technical smuggling and corruption. 

The Senate, later on, convened into a Committee of the Whole, to investigate the alleged corruption within the DA.

“We can only hope that the government is doing the right thing now,” Sotto said when sought to comment. 

“I’m calling for an inquiry of the Committee of the Whole on April 6, right after Holy Week. (This is to discuss) pork related issues, ‘tongpats’ and importation!” he stressed. 

Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, who repeatedly asked Malacanang to declare a state of calamity to help hog raisers recover from the devastating effects of the African swine fever (ASF), said he is also puzzled by the Palace’s decision.

“The President was probably misinformed by his advisers…this act of raising the MAV or cap on imports, will further weaken our local pork producers,” Pangilinan noted. 

“There’s no need to expand MAV and/or lower tariff rates. If we want to import pork, our present system allows importers to import pork,” he said.

On March 15, senators adopted Pangilinan’s Senate Resolution No. 676 which urges the DA “to recommend to the President to declare a state of national calamity due to the “severe impact” of the ASF on the hog industry.

Pangilinan said previous hearings on the rising pork prices also revealed that importers already earn off the current cap on pork imports.

As per data from the Senate hearings, he said, current international price for choice pork cuts like belly, ham and shoulder average at two dollars per kilo.

Also during the Senate hearings, lawmakers noted that a small group of importers already amassed billions of earnings due to the government policy of importation rather than helping local hog raisers overcome the ASF to supply the local market.

“There’s a small group that’s earning billions while consumers go hungry and the local hog industry is battered,” Pangilinan noted.