No food tariff reduction order from Duterte — Salceda

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda bared yesterday food inflation hit its highest level in five years last July while President Duterte virtually junked the suggestion of House leaders to reduce tariffs on certain imported items so importers could bring in needed supply and help bring down retail prices.

This developed as House members warned the National Food Authority yesterday that the 330,000 bags of rice it imported may be unfit for human consumption due to weevils or bukbok as two more senators joined calls for the abolition of agency.

The bags of rice were imported to address lack of supply and rising prices.

“Food reduction tariff shelved. What now?” Salceda, who is Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s focal person for counter-inflation measures, asked, as prices of products and services increased by 5.7 percent in July, the highest in more than five years. Food inflation was recorded at 7.1 percent. Salceda said the poor were hardest-hit since 60 percent of their household budget was spent on food.

“Among food items, fish contributed .7 points to the 5.7-percent inflation, while meat accounted for .4 points and vegetables, another .4 points. Alone or together, they are certainly not small. Import food tariffs are not negligible – meat for one has 40-percent tariff,” he said.

Salceda added that farm-gate prices of pork and chicken rose by seven percent, while those of fish and vegetables went up by 12 percent and 16 percent, respectively.

The House has proposed cutting food tariffs to zero and suspending “regulatory price adjustments” on electricity and oil products.

Salceda, the resident economist in the House, has warned the Duterte administration that inflation “could hit six percent or even beyond without vigorous counter-inflation measures.”

He said consumer prices have been steadily rising since January, when the government imposed new and higher taxes under the controversial Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law.

“There is persisting inflationary pressure within the system. We should really be crying wolf. This is the first near-crisis for the Duterte administration. Our worry really is a spiral,” he said. Simply put, inflation is demand less supply, he said.

Another economist in the House, Rep. Michael Romero of party-list group 1-Pacman, said inflation had produced at least two million more Filipinos poorer.

He said a six-percent inflation rate takes away P300 from a poor household with an income of P5,000 a month.

“That means that this family’s P5,000 is worth only P4,700 due to higher consumer prices. It could make do with its reduced purchasing power by buying fewer goods, which means less rice and food on the table,” Romero said.

Romero said if this household receives a subsidy of P200 under TRAIN, its net loss is P100.

Romero added that this is the reason why he is proposing that the TRAIN subsidy to 10 million households be increased to P500 “to allow poor families to cope with inflation and the depreciation in the value of the peso.”

“A P500 monthly financial assistance is doable, given that the net annual revenue gain under TRAIN is nearly P150 billion,” he stressed.

Inflation was lowest during the Aquino administration.

Duterte was supposed to issue an executive order cutting food tariffs during the current 12-day recess of Congress to bring down inflation. Congress reconvenes on Tuesday.

NFA under fire for ‘bukbok’

NFA’s plan to spray the imported rice still loaded in ships in Albay and Subic Freeport with chemicals to rid it of weevils or bukbok doesn’t sit well with Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III and Ariel Casilao of party-list group Anakpawis.

Albano said the NFA should have the fumigated rice tested by competent authorities to ensure that it is still safe for human consumption “because it is the health and lives of our people that are at stake here.”

Albano was wondering why the NFA allowed the huge volume of imported rice to deteriorate. “First, they spent billions of taxpayers’ money to buy rice abroad. Then they allowed it to be infested with bukbok. That’s double criminal negligence. They could have taken the necessary measures to protect their precious cargo from the elements,” he said.

Casilao said the common substance used in fumigation is methyl bromide.

“According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, though not

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