Low tariffs, nutrition goals anchor food insecurity fight By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas
T
HE Marcos Jr. administration seeks to eliminate severe food insecurity in the Philippines starting next year through various mechanisms that include lowering of tariffs on key commodities in the short-term period. The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 revealed that the national government targets to increase the country’s food security level in the next six years from the baseline score of 59.3. In fact, the economic blueprint indicated that the government would eradicate severe
THE WORLD ›› A6
XI WARNS OF TOUGH COVID-19 FIGHT, ACKNOWLEDGES DIVISIONS IN CHINA
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
food insecurity in the country starting this year and would remain zero until 2028. The country’s food security in 2021 stood at 2 percent. The PDP also showed that moderate to severe food insecurity, estimated at 33.4 percent in 2021, would continuously decline over the next six years until it falls to 24.4 percent by 2028. “To ensure food security and proper nutrition of Filipino families and their members, concerted efforts of the government, private sector, and other stakeholders will be geared toward [a] attaining sufficient and stable supply of food commodities; [b] expand-
ing access of consumers to affordable, safe, and nutritious food; and [c] improving nutrition across all ages,” the PDP 2023-2028 read. “Such strategies will help reduce food insecurity and end hunger by providing accessible and affordable safe and nutritious food for all Filipinos, at all times,” it added. Part of the measures of the government to achieve lower food insecurity in the country is ensuring sufficient and stable supply of food commodities, based on the PDP. “A c h i e v i n g s u f f i c i e n t and stable food supply requires intensified interventions to enhance agriculture
and fisheries productivity and resilience,” it said. “The interventions to be pursued include the [a] diversification of production to maximize the use of resources; [b] consolidation and clustering of farms to take advantage of economies of scale; and [c] adoption of improved technologies to modernize the sector,” it added. The PDP stipulated that the government would continue to reduce tariffs on key commodities as a “temporary” a nd “shor t-ter m” measu re to diversif y the food supply of the country through imports. See “Low tariffs,” A2
BusinessMirror
w
n
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 18 pages |
Vol. 18 No. 80
Airport fiasco: Big probe begins
PASSENGERS wait for updates on their canceled flights from the New Year’s Day technical glitch that affected 65,000 passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said flight operations at the premier NAIA Terminals are expected to be fully normalized either Wednesday or Thursday. NONIE REYES
T
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
@lorenzmarasigan
HE Department of Transportation (DOTr) said on Monday an oversight office under the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) will lead the investigation on the technical issues that temporarily paralyzed flights to and from the Philippines’ main gateway on Sunday.
In a separate develop ment, Malacañan Palace assured the public that a “thorough investigation” is now being conducted on the New Year’s Day aviation fiasco following a technical issue involving the radar frequency. In a statement, the transport department said the CAAP “Aerodrome and Air Navigation Safety Oversight Office [AANSOO] will be tasked to investigate the incident.” “AANSOO is an existing office. Part of the function of CAAP is to also act as regulator and oversight for air navigation and air traffic
services,” the agency said. T he of f ice is composed of CAAP technical personnel such as aerodrome engineers, electrical and communication engineers, air traffic controllers, pilots, and a lawyer. On Sunday, a total of 282 flights were “either delayed, canceled or diverted to other regional airports affecting around 56,000 passengers in Naia,” due to a technical issue related to the Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System. See “Airport fiasco,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 56.1200
AMID AVIATION MESS, DOT ANNOUNCES 2.65-M FOREIGN TOURISTS IN ‘22
FIRB clears extension till Jan 31. of RBE paper transfer registration By Andrea E. San Juan
A COMMERCIAL plane prepares to land at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on January 2, 2023. The Department of Tourism reported higher foreign tourist arrivals for 2022 the day after technical glitches brought the NAIA terminals to a halt. NONIE REYES
T
HE Philippines received 2.65 million foreign tourists from February to December 31, 2022, exceeding the 2-millon low-end target of the Department of Tourism (DOT) under its reformulated tourism plan for the last two years of the Duterte administration. In a news statement, the DOT also said the Philippines
earned US$3.68 billion (P209 billion) in foreign visitor receipts since the country reopened to international travelers on February 10. This also exceeded the low-end inbound revenue target of P83 billion, and was just 11 percent off the high-end target of P231 billion, under the reformulated See “Aviation mess,” A2
T
HE Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) said it has allowed the extension until January 31, 2023 of the paper transfer registration of existing registered business enterprises (RBEs) in the IT and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sector to the Board of Investments (BOI). FIRB Resolution No. 033-22, released last December 23, 2022, states that “there is an urgent need to extend the December 31,2022 deadline to give full effect to the intent behind the provisions of FIRB Resolution No. 026-22 to allow affected RBEs in the IT-BPM sector to adopt, on a long-term basis, flexible work arrangements without adverse effects on their tax incentives.” FIRB is the interagency government body given the authority to grant tax incentives to RBEs.
Further, the FIRB said the affected RBEs that have already registered with the BOI may already adopt up to 100 percent work from home (WFH) arrangement without loss of incentives upon completion of their registration with the said investment promotion agency. The government body also noted that these RBEs shall not be required to post bond pursuant to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Memorandum Circular (MC) 22-19.
“Provided that RBEs in the ITBPM sector that will opt to register with the BOI pursuant to this Resolution from January 1 to 31, 2023, will not be required to post a bond for all equipment and other assets that will be brought outside the economic or freeport zone until they secure the Tax Exemption Indorsement for all their equipment and other assets from the DOF Revenue Office or 31 March 2023, whichever
n JAPAN 0.4174 n UK 67.4394 n HK 7.1996 n CHINA 8.0372 n SINGAPORE 41.5796 n AUSTRALIA 37.8024 n EU 59.5545 n KOREA 0.0441 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.9335
See “FIRB,” A10
Source: BSP (December 29, 2022)