Published April 20, 2021, 5:12 PM
The Duterte administration’s chief economic manager has called on lawmakers to support temporary increased in pork imports at lower tariff rates to address the scarcity in the domestic supply of hog meat.
Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said the lower import tariffs and higher the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) on pork will ensure that meat remains affordable to Filipino families already reeling from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Dominguez, chairman of President Duterte’s Economic Development Cluster (EDC), said their policy on pork importation went extensive deliberations and consultations among concerned agencies and the public.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday, April 19, pressed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to name the brains behind the government’s move to raise the volume and lower the taxes for imported pork products.
By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News
Published April 18, 2021 7:51am Senate President Vicente Sotto III has admitted taking the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin as prevention against COVID-19. Ako umiinom ako [ng ivermectin], as prevention (I take ivermectin as prevention), Sotto said in a radio interview on Saturday. Sotto said the ivermectin he is taking is for human consumption, and that he takes the drug once every two weeks. Also, he said he knows several people who contracted COVID-19 and whose conditions improved after taking ivermectin. Meron akong kakilala, tinamaan ng Covid, tumira ng tatlong araw ng ivermectin, pagdating ng pang-apat, pang-limang araw, tanggal na lahat yung mga symptoms niya. Naghintay na lang ng 14 days bago nagpa-check ulit, pag-check, negative na, he said.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson
(CZAR DANCEL / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
“There is nothing more basic than food, especially in a pandemic. If corruption infects the DA that should be at the forefront of food security efforts, it goes beyond human conscience,” Lacson said in an interview on Radio DZBB.
“Wala na. Saan pa tayo pupulutin kung ang mga walang kaluluwa walang konsensya pati pagkain ng ordinaryong Pilipino di papatawarin (Nothing. We have nowhere to go if people with no souls nor conscience will even corrupt the food of ordinary Filipinos),” the senator added.
“May kumita na sa PPEs, may kumita kung saan-saan, may kumita sa smuggling. Pati ba naman itong pagkain sa hapag-kainan, titirahin pa rin? (These people have profited from personal protective equipment, some profited from smuggling and elsewhere. Are they also going to hit on the people’s food?),” he lamented.