Press Release
August 10, 2009

Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

ON SMUGGLING ACTIVITIES

The declaration by the Department of Finance that the free ports in our country have become "vulnerable" to smuggling and is straining customs capability is alarming. Our budgetary deficit has already been raised from P177 billion to P199 billion and then to P250 billion, according to DOF. This has forced the government to borrow more money from foreign and local sources, burdening future generations with additional debt burdens and taxes.

The solution here is for the government to strengthen its anti-smuggling drive and to tighten enforcement of customs laws and regulations. I also favor looking into petitions to convert certain ports into free ports more carefully and studiously. We need to know whether we have enough free ports and whether they have contributed more to the economy than what was foregone in customs revenues. Also we need to protect our local industries against smuggling, because local industries add more taxes to our government coffers and provide more employment to our people.

ON HOSPITAL HOLIDAY

I appeal to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines not to go through with its threat to declare a "hospital holiday" unless its members are allowed to dispose of their existing medicine stock at current prices after the August 15 deadline imposed by Executive Order No. 821.

Hundreds of patients all over the country will be adversely affected by this move of the PHAP. Their health and lives will be put at risk through no fault of their own. While the hospitals have a reason for their demand, since they would be losing financially if they sell their medicine stock at lower dictated prices, this problem can be solved without further hurting the patients who are already suffering from illnesses, many of them serious.

Perhaps they can get a rebate from the pharmaceutical companies from which they had bought their medicine stock. The government can play a role here by negotiating for a deal which is fair to everybody.

ON CORN IMPORTATION

With imported corn getting zero duty starting next year, our government should immediately put in place safety nets to help our corn producers become more competitive both in the domestic and foreign markets. Already the National Food Authority has decided to import 200,000 metric tons of corn, and this of course would compete with the local corn being produced.

The industrialized countries of the Western world, like the U.S., Canada and Europe, have been subsidizing their farmers to the tune of billons of dollars, while insisting on lowering tariffs in the international trade of farm commodities, thus giving their agricultural products an unfair advantage. We should adopt the same strategy for our farmers so as to protect their income and at the same time save our country from huge expenses in foreign exchange to finance importations.

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