PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte appealed to senators to give executive order (EO) 128 a chance to address pork supply woes in the country, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Duterte appealed as the Senate Committee of the Whole adopted a resolution calling for the withdrawal of EO 128, which lower tariff rates for pork imports to five percent to 20 percent from 30 percent to 40 percent.
Senators argued that such measure will put local hog raisers at a disadvantage, and such a move is not needed given the surplus in pork supply in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“President Duterte is asking the esteemed members of the Senate to give EO 128 a chance and consider its intended effects, which include addressing the shortage in swine meat, stabilizing the price of pork meat, and minimizing inflation rate, as mentioned by the Department of Agriculture and the President’s Economic Team,” Roque said on Wednesday.
Roque urged the senators to revisit the EO in two months “to assess whether the aforesaid intended effects have been realized/met.”
Roque assured the Senate that Malacañang is with Congress in ensuring the recovery of the local swine industry and the attainment of sufficient domestic pork production.(GMA News)
