00:00Assistance to the agri-sector affected by the Canlaon eruption and companies belonging to the blacklist,
00:06that is smuggling and illegal trade, we will discuss with Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa,
00:12the spokesperson of the Department of Agriculture.
00:15Asek Arnel, good afternoon.
00:18Good afternoon, Asek Weng and Nia, good afternoon to all.
00:22Asek, the agriculture sector is one of the biggest damage caused by the Canlaon eruption.
00:29What assistance will the DA distribute to the affected farmers?
00:35Yes, Asek Weng, we know that the agriculture sector will be affected by the Canlaon eruption
00:42and we are consulting with the provincial and municipal governments in the area.
00:48Even if you remain restricted due to the current priorities,
00:52such as relief operation and evacuation, we will follow up on what our colleagues are doing.
01:01So now, we were able to give... we prioritized our livestock because they were the first affected
01:09and we provided them with biologics and drugs so they can be treated and helped.
01:15Almost more than 100,000 chesos, the first aid we provided,
01:21and our quick response fund is also ready for the areas that were affected.
01:27As of today, the areas that can be affected are La Castellana, La Carlota, Baguio City, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriente.
01:39How is the impact of the Canlaon eruption on the sugarcane farms in Negros?
01:46Will the supply and price of sugar be affected because of this?
01:51Like what I said earlier, the affected municipalities are mostly growing sugarcane,
02:00and definitely, it will have an impact.
02:02Even though our colleagues in the SRA are continuously coordinating with other governments
02:09to continue the selection and validation of ABS.
02:14Similarly, we will also have interventions here in the sugarcane farms.
02:20So ASEC, is there an initial assessment of the DA regarding the impact of the eruption of Volcan Canlaon in the agriculture sector?
02:28As of now, ASEC will continue the validation and monitoring of the areas.
02:35The areas that were mentioned are not that big based on the initial assessment.
02:43But we will provide reports as the data comes in.
02:48In other talks, ASEC, how many companies are included in the blacklist of the Department of Agriculture in the past six months?
02:59What illegal activities were done by the government to include them in the blacklist?
03:06Within the past six months, the government blacklisted ten companies through the Bureau of Land Industry.
03:16Most of them do not have sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances from the BPI.
03:25Others are included in the anti-competitive practices, price manipulation and pollution.
03:33Seven of them do not have sanitary and phytosanitary clearances from the BPI.
03:40The rest do not have licenses and are involved in the anti-competitive practices.
03:45These include LBM Grain Enterprises, East Bliss Consumer, JRA, Betron, RCNN, Golden Race, Chastity Consumer Groups Trading,
03:56Narena, Fresh Vegetables, Veggie Fruit Producing Store and Yung Trading Corporation.
04:03ASEC, for our countrymen to understand, why is the blacklist of companies with illegal activities being considered as a powerful step?
04:14ASEC, this was done by the Department of Agriculture.
04:19Our intensified efforts will continue to fight agricultural smuggling, profiteering, hoarding and cartel-like activities.
04:28Most of these activities are aimed to increase the price of goods and destabilize the local market.
04:37It is important for us to safeguard the sector from these illegal activities,
04:43so that it will not undermine the livelihood of our farmers and consumers in general.
04:51Earlier, you mentioned 10 blacklisted companies.
04:56You mentioned vegetables. What are the products of these blacklisted companies?
05:04Most of them are imported vegetables, in particular onions, rice and other agricultural commodities such as fish, oranges and lemons.
05:21Okay. There are also blacklisted companies that are involved in anti-competitive practices such as price manipulation.
05:30What does this mean and what is the effect on the local market and consumers if it is not monitored?
05:38What they do is anti-competitive practices such as price manipulation and pollution.
05:45They are the ones who talk to each other to set a price.
05:50This can affect the price of our other companies.
05:56What will happen is that it will cause unnecessary surges in price,
06:01including Marina Press Vegetables, Veggie Fruit Producing Store and Yog Trading Corporation.
06:09It is very important for these groups to be accountable,
06:15so that we can ensure the integrity of our agricultural trading system.
06:21What can the DA say in the statement of NEDA that it did not help in lowering the price of rice,
06:30which has a lower rate than rice imports?
06:33It did not help in lowering the price of rice.
06:36What is the discrepancy that the DA can see regarding this?
06:43As it is, if we look at it, there is a decrease in the price of rice as per the monitoring.
06:51If we look at another point, due to the increase in rice and dollar exchange,
07:00the price of our President's signature will decrease from 35 to 15 percent,
07:06just like our previous statement.
07:08It is certain that the price of rice during this time is higher.
07:13That's why it is important to lower the price of rice.
07:18Because of this, our smugglers did not have an incentive to continue smuggling because the price of rice is low
07:26and the volume of smuggled goods is high.
07:29Sec, we have a question from our media partner, Stephanie Sevellano of the Philippine News Agency.
07:35She asked for updates on how the President is doing in MRT and LRT,
07:42and when other markets will be added.
07:45How is the acceptance of our countrymen in the first five major markets for P40 per kilo of rice?
07:53The acceptance of our countrymen for P40 per kilo of rice for all is very good.
08:00In fact, it is running out.
08:03Our FDI, our partner in logistics and distribution, is making adjustments to increase the supply of rice.
08:13You can expect that this week and next week,
08:17we will add more families to supply rice for all.
08:22There are also those who started in LRT, Recto, Ayala, North Avenue and Cobao,
08:29LRT and MRT stations.
08:31We are continuing to coordinate with DOTR
08:34to add more stations to supply rice for all.
08:41Okay, thank you very much for your time.
08:43Assistant Secretary Arnel Demesa, the spokesperson of the Department of Agriculture.
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