Phl urged to cut ties with WTO

A pro-farmers’ group called on the Philippine government to cut ties with the World Trade Organization (WTO) during its rally held outside the Capitol yesterday.

The protest rally welcomed yesterday’s public hearing on the effects of the implementation of the WTO policies and programs on the livestock and vegetable industries in the country.

Cebu Representatives Peter John Calderon (seventh district) and Wilfredo Caminero (second district), Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar, and Negros Oriental Second District Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria; farmers organizations; business owners; and Department of Agriculture representatives were present during the public consultation.

It was then senator Rodolfo Biazon who first called on the government to study the possibility of getting out of the WTO after noting its adverse effects on Philippine industries.

At a recently-concluded hearing by the Senate committee on trade and industry headed by Sen. Robert Jaworski, Biazon said the WTO had allowed industrialized countries to subsidize agriculture, while bearing down hard on the Philippines in any similar move.

Biazon said that because of the reduced tariffs in the Philippines for imported goods and the high subsidies given by foreign government, imported products could be sold in the Philippines much cheaper than locally produced ones.

Jaime Paglinawan of Ama Sugbo ng Kilusang Mayo Uno, a Cebu-based labor group, the partnership has made importation easier at the expense of local producers.

Consumers, he said, prefer cheap imported products over local produce.

He explained that local products are quite expensive owing to high production cost.

He warned that unless the government acts, the Philippines would soon be nothing but a mere market for foreign products.

Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, who chairs the House special committee on globalization and WTO, said leaving WTO is not as easy as it seems.

He said the affiliation with WTO helps in leveling the playing field when it comes to trade.

“As signatory to the WTO, kailangan nating panagutan natin yun. Hindi man tayo ‘makapag-advance ngayon but it doesn’t mean na aatras na,” said Marcoleta, the presiding officer during the public consultation.

“Ang concern sa agriculture is papano tayo makikipag-compete. The global trading system is already level ang problema yung bang quality ng produkto natin and services are also competitive to merit trading with other countries,” he added.

Among the objectives of the consultation are to list down the concerns of the agricultural sector.

Marcoleta’s committee is tasked to look into the effects on the local livestock, poultry, and vegetable industries of the implementation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade-WTO’s policies and programs in the country.