MANILA – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the importation of basic commodities, especially chicken and pork, to augment local supply in the markets due to the heavy damage inflicted on the country’s farm sector, a senior Malacañang official announced.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the President issued two executive orders authorizing three government agencies to import these commodities and intervene in the trading of food items, aside from rice, the staple food of the 92 million Filipinos.
The three state agencies involved, Remonde said, are the National Food Authority , Philippine International Trading Corporation and the Food Terminal Incorporated.
Remonde said the orders complement an earlier directive by the President, which imposed price control on essential commodities such as rice, cooking oil, corn, milk, coffee, canned goods and even construction materials.
He cited a provision in one of the orders which read: “The current tight economic situation, aggravated by the destructive effects of typhoons that hit the country has significantly lessened the underprivileged sector’s access to basic food.â€
Specifically, President Arroyo was referring to typhoons “Ondoy†(international codename Ketsana) and “Pepeng†(international codename Parma), which battered the country within a week of each other starting September 26 and wrought heavy damage on rice, corn and vegetable farms as well as the poultry and piggery industries.
Based on government estimates, the damage caused by the two back-to-back typhoons was pegged at the equivalent of $250 million. The bulk of the damage was on “palay†(unhusked rice).
In the order, Remonde said the President stressed the urgent need to address the basic needs of the less fortunate sectors, especially those in the depressed areas, to assure their continuous access to basic food items.
According to Remonde, the President cited a provision in an executive order issued in 1985 which allows her to direct government agencies and intervene in the trading of other food items if warranted by emergency situations.
To achieve this, he said the President ordered Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Agriculture to determine the reasonable volume of pork or chicken to be imported to augment their supply in the local market.
At the same time, the order directed the three state agencies concerned to use their own corporate funds, manpower and other facilities and government-guaranteed credit lines which are deemed necessary for the importation of these items.
As such, all the disbursements and expenses incurred for this purpose would be treated as a special project account, the order added.
Moreover, Remonde pointed out that such importations would be eligible for application of the tax expenditure subsidy scheme.
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