Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Friday, May 7, attributed to the vigilance of stakeholders the government's decision to revise its pork importation policy.

“Tagumpay ito ng ating sama-sama at tulong-tulong na pagbabantay. Nagpursigi tayo para marinig ang hinaing ng mga apektado ng ASF at ang sobra-sobrang pag-angkat ng baboy (This is a victory brought about by our vigilance and unity. We worked to put forth the concerns of those who are affected by the African swine fever and the excessive importation of pork),” Pangilinan said in a statement, lauding the executive department's move to amend the prevailing tariff and minimum access volume (MAV) for pork imports.

Pangilinan, whose resolution had prompted the Senate inquiry last month on the significant reduction of import duties and increase of MAV for pork, maintained that the government should support the swine industry.

Local hog raisers and stakeholders, as well as lawmakers, opposed President Duterte's Executive Order (EO) 128, which lowered the tariff rates for pork importation for a year in a bid to bring down pork prices.

Duterte had also wanted to increase the MAV by 350,000 metric tons (MT).

On Wednesday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III disclosed that the EO will be amended following negotiations between senators and members of the Cabinet's economic cluster for a compromise.

Instead of the five-percent tariff for in-quota importation of pork, the import duty will be increased to 10 percent during the first three months, and 15 percent for the remaining months of its validity.

For pork imports outside of quota, tariff will be increased to 20 percent from EO 128’s 15 percent for the first three months, and 25 percent for the fourth to 12th month.

Meanwhile, the Senate and economic cluster also agreed to reduce the MAV to 254,210 MT, from the initial recommendation of the agriculture department to increase it to 404,210 MT.

“Malapit na ito sa proposal ng ating mga magbababoy na 'wag masyadong babaan ang taripa at lakihan ang MAV (This is closer to the proposal of our hog raisers against the extremely low tariffs and high MAV)," Pangilinan said.

"The next step should be how to capacitate and support the local hog industry as they try to recover from ASF. Hindi sila dapat mapabayaan habang umaasa tayo sa pandagdag sa suplay mula sa importation (They should not be abandoned while we are depending on importation to augment our pork supply),” he appealed.

Pangilinan maintained the need for the declaration of a state of calamity due to the ASF outbreak, saying it will expedite funds to aid displaced local hog producers.