Philippines to import more agricultural goods in 2023 to quell rising prices

MANILA – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr plans to address a continuing surge in prices of basic commodities in the country by importing more agricultural produce in 2023.

On Monday, he told television reporters that food inflation these past months has been “alarming”.

“We must import. I think my sentiments about importation are clear, but it is an emergency situation that has been brought about by neglect of the agricultural sector for many, many years. And therefore, our production is well below our demand,” he said.

Mr Marcos has been weathering multiple economic crises in his first seven months in office.

Surging prices of food staples such as sugar, salt and now onions and eggs have

driven inflation to a 14-year high.

The Philippines has struggled to meet the demand for these items due to various reasons, including years of flawed import policies, cartels manipulating prices, a constant neglect of farmers and extreme weather.

Mr Marcos has already ordered the

importation of sugar and onions.

He has also been dealing with tight public finances and government debt that has ballooned to 13.64 trillion pesos (S$330 billion).

He decided to head the agriculture department when he took office in June 2022 to revamp the sector. But critics said he has so far failed to do so, with farmers remaining among the country’s poorest.

Several farmer groups have long asked Mr Marcos to appoint an agriculture secretary, but he believes that only the President can get the job done.

“In the Department of Agriculture, there really are things that only I can do. If there were a secretary, reforms would be done but it would take a while, there would be a lot of discussions with other officials,” he said.

“But they cannot say no to the President. And when they refuse my orders, I can call them out.”

In the same interview, he was asked about his eight foreign trips in less than a year into his term, as opposition figures criticised him over his priorities.

Just this month, shortages in onions and eggs have jacked up prices in the Philippines, but Mr Marcos told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that the

country’s economic growth would likely hold steady at 7 per cent.

He said it would take some time for this growth to trickle down to the majority of Filipinos.

“It is a process. It does not mean that when you speak with a corporation that its executives would immediately like you... If I don’t travel to these conferences, they won’t be thinking about the Philippines,” he added.

Mr Marcos hopes prices will stabilise by early 2023.

“What I lose sleep every night over is how to bring down inflation. So I am determined to make sure that the inflation starts to come down in the first quarter and things would normalise after that,” he said.