Loren: Smuggling, imports will kill local agriculture

SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA CALLED TODAY FOR DECISIVE GOVERNMENT MOVES TO STOP UNABATED SMUGGLING AND UNCONTROLLED IMPORTATION OF FRUITS, VEGETABLES AND OTHER FARM PRODUCTS THAT COULD EVENTUALLY KILL LOCAL AGRICULTURE AND EXACERBATE POVERTY IN THE COUNTRY.

Loren cited the sad experience of vegetable growers, such as those producing onion and garlic, who have been deprived of their source of livelihood because of unfair competition posed by cheap onions and garlic from other countries, mainly from neighboring countries.

Loren lamented that growers of local fruits, such as lanzones, are feeling the pinch brought about by the unrestricted entry of imported fruits.

In coconut-producing provinces as Laguna and Quezon, the senator pointed out, farmers are also facing economic difficulties because of dwindling demand for coconut and coconut-based products, such as macapuno, because of stiff competition from cheaper imported products.

Loren said that corruption in the bureaucracy is responsible for large-scale smuggling that deprives the government of much-needed revenues that in turn keeps poverty in the country at very high levels.

Apart from corruption, the other problem that stunts the growth of local agriculture and industry is the government’s “unthinking commitment to globalization, or borderless trade, which at first glance is beneficial to the economy but on closer inspection may actually work at cross-purposes to our economic advance.”

Loren pointed out that while farmers in the developed countries are subsidized, Filipinos farmers are simply left to their own devices and face unfair competition from cheap products abroad dumped into the country from abroad.

Loren said that while the Philippines should respect and uphold its international commitments, such as to the World Trade Organization, it also has the responsibility to protect its own citizenry from unfair competition from abroad.

In the end, Loren said, “it’s all a matter of protecting the national interest.”

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_095_Loren_Smuggling_imports.php

We must revive economy - Loren

SEN. LOREN LEGARDA, NP-NPC VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, SAID YESTERDAY “IT IS THE JOB OF THE NEXT GOVERNMENT TO REVIVE THE ECONOMY WHICH HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS “ASIA’S LAGGARD”.

Loren was referring to the article in the February 1 issue of the international US magazine, Newsweek, titled “Asia’s Laggard,” which said, “The world has been passing the Philippines by, literally.”

According to the article by Ruchir Sharma, “After growing at an average pace of 6 percent in the 1950s and 1960s, the Philippines missed out on successive waves of investment-led booms in the region due to constant political instability and failure to liberalize the economy.”

Newsweek cited the failure of the government to operate the new Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal III as an example of government incompetence due to in-fighting.

Loren said that the next administration must finally open and operate the new international airport in order to attract more tourists and investments to the country.

Loren lamented that whenever there is talk of impressive economic growth in Asia, the Philippines is not included because it has stagnated economically, making the Filipino poorer per capita as economic growth failed to keep pace with population growth.

Loren said that the opposition party headed by NP presidential candidate Manny Villar and herself is committed to “reviving our long-stagnant economy by increasing agricultural and industrial productivity, making the economy more competitive, providing more jobs for the people, enhancing the environment, improving education and health.”

Loren said that “ending corruption, which is considered a primary factor in our economic failure, is at the top of the priority list of our platform. We shall ensure the rule of law to assure local and foreign investors of security and success in their investments and provide more incentives to hard work and productivity for both the local and export markets.”

Loren that the billions of dollars in remittances by Overseas Filipino Workers “should not be wasted in luxury consumption by the rich, or derailed to the private pockets of the corrupt, but should be invested in productive enterprises that would provide employment and more food for the poor.”

According to Loren, “the talent, industry and productiveness of our people have been wasted in corruption, unrealistic economic policies and squandered natural and physical resources, like the newly-constructed international airport that lies unused because of legal squabbles and lack of political will on the part of the present administration.”

“We will supply that political will to keep our country moving again,” stressed Loren.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_094_We_must_revive_economy.php

Climate change threatens asian RP economies - Loren

Sen. Loren Legarda today warned that unless the Philippines takes action, climate change would severely affect the Philippine economy, creating more poverty and drastically lowering its productivity.

In an address at the Asian Institute of Management here, Loren said that “If the Philippines will do nothing, climate related risks will create a 6 percent decline of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) annually by 2010.”

Loren, the NP vice presidential candidate, cited a report of the Asian Development Bank, stating that climate change impacts could cost Southeast Asian nations 6.7 percent of their total GDP each year. GDP is the total amount of goods and services produced in a year.

However, the same study found that if the Philippines would invest 0.5% of its GDP by 2020 in climate change adaptation, “we can avert losses of up to 4% of our GDP by 2100 -- clearly a short term investment with a long term eight-fold gain,” said Loren, who is the chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and Risk Reduction.

In the face of greater disasters from climate change, Loren stressed that the Climate Change Act recently passed by Congress should be fully and successfully implemented as a “moral imperative and a social responsibility.” Loren was the principal sponsor of the bill in the Senate.

Speaking on the theme, “Capacity Building for Future Southeast Asian Leaders”, Loren pointed out that the Philippines is visited by typhoons about 20 times a year. Also, its location right within the Pacific Ring of Fire where most of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruption occur constantly exposes the country to these natural hazards.

She said that in 2008 the world suffered from 321 disasters which killed about a quarter of a million people and affected more than 200 million lives. The total economic cost was a stunning 180 billion US dollars, which is twice the average annual economic losses of the past seven years. The Asia and the Pacific bore the brunt, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global loss of life, said Loren, who is also the UN champion climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in the Asia-Pacific region.

“As leaders, we need to rethink our approach to pursuing and protecting our development from the regressive impacts of disasters and climate risks. We need to revisit our current frameworks and strategies for socio-economic development (to fully address) the disaster risks which prevail today,” said Loren.

Based on the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Loren said that there are three main reasons for the aggravation of disaster risks caused by climate change -- poor urban governance, vulnerable rural livelihood and ecosystems decline.

Loren said that this “calls for improving urban governance – which involves stopping corruption and enforcing building codes; enhancing rural livelihoods – which involves enhancing agricultural productivity and supporting farmers better; and protecting ecosystems – which involves protecting our forests, cleaning our rivers, and stopping pollution.”

Because of good urban governance, Japan, with approximately 22.5 million people exposed annually to typhoons, compared to 16 million people in the Philippines, suffers much less casualties than the Philippines. The estimated annual death toll in the Philippines is almost 17 times greater than that of Japan. Overall, tropical cyclone mortality risk in low-income countries is approximately 200 times higher than in countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

People living in rural areas are more vulnerable to climate change, said Loren. The Philippines is periodically affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon that induces prolonged wet and dry seasons. Climate change, and resulting extreme events will further upset our agriculture production schedules and exacerbate the problem of food security.

Concerning ecosystems, the Millennium Ecosystem Report, released in 2005, found that 60% of ecosystem services – services that nature provides to sustain human life, are declining with some services like fisheries beyond repair, rued Loren. In the Philippines, forests and mangroves are fast disappearing, posing risks of greater floods and landslides.

“Over the last century, the proportion of land area covered by forest in the Philippines has fallen from 22 percent in 1990 to just 19.4 percent in 2000,” said Loren.

To help solve the problem, she cited the work of the Luntiang Pilipinas, an organization that she helped organize several years back and is the Philippine partner of the United Nations Environment Programme in its Billion Tree Campaign Today, it has planted and grown almost two million trees nationwide.

“Now is the time for all of us to unite on all these issues, and to transcend territorial boundaries, political persuasions and institutional affiliations. There is no more appropriate time to show political will, good governance, and exemplary leadership than now,” Loren told the young parliamentarians and policy-makers of Southeast Asia.

Via: http://lorenlegarda.com.ph/news_084_Climate_change_threatens_asian_RP_economies.php