Villar tells DA not to listen to NEDA as regards need for pork imports

The Department of Agriculture should not take too much guidance from the National Economic Development Authority as regards the need to import pork, a senator said on Monday.

Senator Cynthia Villar made the remark in a Senate hearing after President Rodrigo Duterte recommended increasing the minimum access volume of pork imports to 350,000 metric tons.

The DA itself earlier recommended increasing the MAV of imported pork to as high as 400,000 metric tons.

"When you are making policy, you have to understand 'yung mahihirap na buhay ng farmer sa ground. Huwag ka makikinig sa NEDA kasi di naman nila naiintindihan ang nangyayari sa ground," Villar said.

[When you are making policy, you have to understand the life of the poor farmer on the ground. Don't listen to NEDA because they don't know what is happening on the ground.]

Villar questioned the recommendations to increase the MAV of imported pork, adding the highest demand for pork imports was only 120,000 metric tons recorded in 2018.

She called the MAV recommendations "out of range" which she could not understand.

Villar said the DA could have recommended a maximum of 150,000 metric tons.

"I think the worst you can ever predict is 150,000 metric tons," Villar said.

The DA had proposed to hike the MAV to at least 400,000 MT from the current 54,000 MT, citing supply constraints brought about by the African swine fever outbreak.

On March 26, President Rodrigo Duterte already recommended increasing the MAV of pork imports to 350,000 metric tons.

Responding to Villar's questions, Agricuture Secretary William Dar cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which said that the demand for pork in the Philippines stood at 15 kilograms per individual.

The PSA is under the NEDA. --NB, GMA News