MANILA, Philippines — Declaring a national state of calamity due to the African swine fever (ASF) is now “critical” as the government stands to lose up to P14 billion in revenues for lowering the tariff rate on pork imports, Senator Francis Pangilinan said Thursday.
“Anywhere between P11 billion to 14 billion ang hindi mako-collect na taripa dahil binaba [will not be collected because of the lowered tariffs],” Pangilinan told reporters in an online interview.
On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte issued Executive Order No. 128 temporarily reducing tariffs on pork imports in a bid to resolve the country’s undersupply of pork.
“If they (government) really wish to…
Keep on reading: ASF state of calamity ‘critical’ with pork tariff cut leading to P14B in revenue loss — Pangilinan