Press Release
February 22, 2021

GRACE POE's TRANSCRIPT
Senate committee on agriculture, food and agrarian reform hearing

Sen. Grace Poe: Madam Chair, when I was listening to the interview of Mr. Ordoñez, I was quite enlightened by it. I think he had an interview yesterday. I listened to the opinions of the Hog Raisers Association. Gusto ko lang matanong sa Dept. of Agriculture kung 'yung mga pinapasok ba na mga imported na karne dito sa ating bansa ay meron ba talaga tayong kakayanan na inspeksyunin, kasi nahahawa nga ang ating mga alagang baboy dito. Kaya nga na-wipe out na ang halos 70 percent dito sa Luzon. Pangalawang tanong, 'yung nire-raise din ng iba, maganda na may pondo ang Dept. of Agriculture na ipapautang pero there are no takers kasi nga it's such a big risk kung mahahawa rin ang mga alaga ko. So wala bang force majeure na provision dito para naman kung may mga pandemya na nahawa ang mga alaga nila, hindi naman sila mabaon sa utang. Kasi ito ang punto ko, kung sinasabi ng DA na magpapautang sila, tapos wala namang interes kapag ikaw ay nagkaroon ng problema nga dahil nga sa pandemya, siguro naman mas iigihan nila ang inspeksyon doon sa mga entry points natin. So 'yun lang po, Madam Chair. Meron ba tayong inspection program para dito sa pumapasok na mga karne galing sa ibang bansa.

Dept. of Agriculture Sec. William Dar: Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Senator Grace. 'Yung inspection po ay napaigting na po natin. We would like to say that kami po dito sa Bureau of Animal Industry and National Meat Inspection Service, ay ginagawa po ang katungkulan nila. Ang problema lang po natin ay ang mga smuggled items. Hindi po natin ma-inspect 'yan kasi smuggled nga. So we are trying to elevate our game in tandem with Bureau of Customs para sa ganun ay ma-manage din ang mga nagpapapuslit. Now, 'yung risk factor, talagang may risk factor pa rin. That's why the central focus of this program is elevating biosecurity measure. Meron na tayong ipinapanukala na insurance at ang premium po ay 50 percent galing sa gobyerno, 50 percent galing sa commercial. Sa mga backyard hog raisers walang insurance premium but covered po sila dito sa indemnification na tumaas na ng P10,000 kung fattener, kung breeder po ay P14,500. So, ito po ay will ensure na, of course, may maglo-loan. Let me also mention na 'yung backyard hog raisers ay merong P500 million loan program sa kanila, zero interest, payable in five years.

Sen. Cynthia Villar: Wala silang ibibigay na collateral diyan?

Dar: Wala po.

Poe: Thank you, Madam Chair, at saka Secretary Dar. Pero sa tingin ko, you really have to step up the efforts. Hindi pwedeng sabihin na 'kasi mga smugglers 'yan'. That's precisely the point of an inspection--to tighten those borders, to make sure na walang lumalabas na mga smuggled. Kasi ito po, ang dinig ko sa Iloilo humihingi talaga ng certificate na nagsasabing ito ay na-inspection na. Kasi ganito 'yan, ayaw ninyong magpautang because, well, nagpapautang kayo pero kahit na sabihin mong 50 percent itong premium na ganito, ganyan, may risk sa inyo but if you are confident that you are tightening your borders, you wouldn't mind that the hog raisers or whatever livestock raisers will not have to pay any of their loans if it is because of epidemic because you are confident that you've already tightened your border. Secretary Dar, this is the issue that affects, not just the farmers but all of us consumers because of the, well, obviously the price of the pork and other goods... That's all, Madam Chair, I just wanted to express the frustrations of our hog raisers and I thank Mr. Ordoñez for enlightening a lot of us who are not really versed with this crisis and why it is happening. That's all, Madam Chair, maraming salamat sa oras.

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