Senators slammed the proposal of the Department of Agriculture to lower tariffs for pork and rice to reduce prices, fearing that the move would hurt local farmers.
"Nakakatakot. Imagine, DA, tagapagtanggol dapat ng magsasaka, pangungunahan na naman ang importation. Ano ba naman, baliktad na yata ang mundo,"The DA is proposing to triple the minimum access volume or the number of allowable pork imports with lower tariffs from 54,000 metric tons to 162,000 metric tons, as pork prices hit record highs amid the coronavirus crisis.
"Wala namang rice shortage, talagang pina-i-import naman sila. Bakit pinag-iinitan ang rice? Ito nga ang saving grace natin. 'Wag na pakialaman ang rice,"Based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, rice prices decelerated in 2020, which in turn, pulled down inflation. "At no point in our history [did] retail prices [go] down due to increased imports or lowered tariff."
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