MANILA — Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. said on Tuesday addressing the soaring inflation requires a “cocktail of solutions” rather than just a single “magic cure.”
Andaya made the statement following Malacañang’s announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte has signed Administrative Order (AO) No. 13, removing non-tariff barriers in the importation of agricultural products.
“The removal of non-tariff barriers is but one of the many things that we must do to tame the inflation and temper the rise in the prices of goods. This [AO] will help but let us not bloat its efficacy by trumpeting it as a magic cure,” Andaya said.
Andaya said both Congress and the government would do their part in providing the farmers with all the resources and right policies for them to accomplish their mission of feeding the people.
He also noted that the House is working hard to pass a national budget for next year aimed at achieving food security in the country.
“The battle to win food security will still be fought in our farms,” Andaya said.
The administrative order stressed the “urgent need” to regulate price spikes of basic agricultural commodities to “address the shortfall on supply and ensure stable prices of agricultural products in the local markets.”
“Non-tariff barriers and certain administrative constraints, procedures and fees unduly add to the costs of importation and limit supply, which in turn, push up the prices of agricultural commodities to the detriment of Filipino consumers, especially the poor,” AO 13 read. (Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA)
