Distracted by his Maharlika fund, Marcos Jr. spun back Friday to agriculture. His three announcements were supposedly for the poor. First, that his 350 Kadiwa rolling stores nationwide have enough P25-per-kilo rice. Second, that Kadiwa will retail confiscated smuggled onions. Third, that he will slash import duties on rice, corn and pork.
The results will be anti-poor.
His rice distribution defies science, his supposed policy foundation. DSWD lists 5.6 million penurious families. That makes 16,000 families availing of P25 rice in each of 350 Kadiwa stores.
A day has 144 ten-minute intervals, the time each transaction takes. Meaning, every Kadiwa must have 111 sales staff, shoulder-to-shoulder around the store, to serve 16,000 buyers.
That’s assuming each staff can work 24 hours straight. Assuming too that the 350 Kadiwa stores strategically cover all 84 provinces, 148 cities, 1,487 municipalities and 42,022 barangays.
The poor dwell in all 7,641 islands. They must trek from mountain kaingin, seaside shacks and far-flung fields to avail of Marcos Jr.’s cheap rice. Taking public transport will only reduce their food budget.
A frugal family can stretch the kilo of rice two days. Today’s buyer will wonder when the Kadiwa will return.
By law, confiscated fresh foods are condemned and destroyed. Harmful chemicals likely were used to grow and preserve the pest-infested edibles. Donating those to charity can sicken consumers and contaminate farms.
Last July, the Bureau of Plant Industry stopped issuing sanitary/phytosanitary clearances of onions from abroad. BPI in Cagayan de Oro caused the seizure of 21 cargo containers of Chinese onions mis-declared as siopao buns and lumpia patty.
In such case, Customs must hire a “condemnator” to crush and bury the contraband. But in cahoots with Customs-Cagayan de Oro, the condemnator on Sept. 18 transferred hundreds of tons of yellow bulbs onto wing vans and sold them in Davao at P600 a kilo, for hundred-million-peso profit.
Videoed and documented, the misdeed was exposed in this column Sept. 28. Held liable, the Cagayan de Oro port collector was “removed.” Customs central office reassigned her to busier Cebu, a promotion. The condemnator was untouched.
Last Friday, Marcos Jr. cited more red and yellow onions interdicted in Manila. Told by whoever, BPI conducted unnecessary sanitary/phytosanitary inspection. It detected toxins and E. coli (feces bacteria).
Still, agriculture higher-ups said the contraband would be sold in Kadiwastores. Price would be cheap since it didn’t cost the government anything anyway, the spokesman beamed.
Marcos Jr. said: “As quickly as possible, naghahanap kami ng paraan kasi usually ‘yan [smuggler] kakasuhan mo pa bago ‘yung auction. By the time i-auction mo, wala na, bulok na.”
Also: “Kaya’t sabi ko hanap tayo ng paraan para mailabas kaagad, mailagay sa market kaagad. Pinag-aaralan namin ngayon. Baka by next week mayroon na tayong solution.”
No care for public health and agriculture biosecurity? Are miserable Kadiwa buyers like garbage scavengers making do with “pagpag” food leftovers?
On advice of his NEDA secretary, Marcos Jr. will keep import tariffs low till end 2023. Rice, 35 percent duty instead of 50. Corn, only five percent instead of 35. Pork, only 15 percent from 40.
They aim to lower runaway food prices caused by shortage, costly transport, fuel and electricity. That should elate Christmas consumers.
But it’s at the expense of rice, corn and hog growers, millers, traders, farm and feed suppliers. They too are consumers. Seventy percent of hogs come from backyard raisers. Ninety percent of rice and corn are from farms less than two hectares.
Tariff collections are intended to improve their sectors through fertilizer, pesticide, irrigation, R&D, mechanization, logistics and anti-African Swine Fever measures. Reduced tariff means reduced aid. Cheap imports will bankrupt domestic producers.
The only beneficiary is the cartel of grain, fish, pork, poultry, vegetable, spice, fruit and sugar importers. Recycling import permits, they also smuggle. Their protector is a NEDA undersecretary, a Marcos Jr. appointee.
Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying
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