Philippines: Banana growers demand lower government fees
The Filipino Banana Growers and Entrepreneurs Association (FBGEA) has demanded lower government fees and more support activities to help the supposedly distressed industry. Executive director Stephen Antig recently recommended the possible reduction in lodgment fees with the Bureau of Customs and the suspension of wharfage fees “until the situation gets better.”
“The local governments should refrain from issuing ordinances that encroach on the right to contract freely,” he told manilatimes.net, also mentioning a recent Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report saying fresh banana “recorded the worst dip among the top 10 major commodity groups in terms of the value of exports at -46.9 percent as of January 2021.ˮ
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Senator Panfilo M. Lacson
(SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES / FILE PHOTO)
This was bared by Senator Panfilo Lacson on Thursday, April 15, before the Senate Committee of the Whole, which is conducting a hearing on food security issues, particularly on a controversial Malacanang order reducing tariff on and increasing volume of pork importations.
He said government is losing some P1.085 billion annually through misdeclaration and smuggling of fish and other seafoods from 2015 to 2020.
Lacson revealed conflicting data on fish and seafoods arriving in the Philippines.
The senator said there is a difference of 20 million kilos of imported fish and seafoods coming into the country from 15 countries based on data of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
By HANA BORDREY, GMA News
Published April 15, 2021 2:44pm The Philippines is losing an average of P1.085 billion in seafood importation revenues due to misdeclaration or smuggling, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Thursday. During the continuation of Senate Committee of the Whole hearing on food security, Lacson flagged the discrepancies between the records of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on the volume of imports in seafood, chicken, and pork products. “Bakit inversely proportional ‘yung quantity sa record ng WTO dun sa record ng PSA? Ibig sabihin maraming misdeclaration or underdeclaration ito or maraming smuggling,” Lacson said.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 15) The two-week enhanced community quarantine has cost the Philippine economy an estimated ₱180 billion, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said Thursday.
The local economy suffered anew from the hard lockdown implemented in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, he said in a virtual briefing.
Lopez estimated that 1% of the country s gross domestic product or GDP was lost during the ECQ in the Greater Manila area, where the movement of people and businesses had been limited to essential activities. Yung 1% na yun, kung tayo ay may GDP na ₱18 trillion. ₱180 billion ang estimate na nawala sa ating ekonomiya, he said.