Boosting the economy

Experts have repeatedly pointed out that a "protectionist policy environment鈥� which continues to impose restrictions鈥攔eal and disguised鈥攊n the importation of agricultural products, supposedly to protect our own industries against "unfair competition,鈥� have hurt the agricultural sector more than they have helped. Little surprise, then, that Philippine agriculture is considered the "poor man鈥檚 sector.鈥� In other countries that have long opened their borders to international agricultural trade鈥攍ike Japan, China, South Korea, and Asean neighbors, Thailand, Malaysia, and even Vietnam鈥攕uch has not been the case. Their consumers enjoy commodities at more affordable prices while their countries have gone on to strengthen export-oriented industries where they are most competitive. In a 2013 discussion paper entitled "Philippine Agriculture to 2020: Threats and Opportunities from Global Trade鈥� written by UP-trained economist Dr. Roehlano Briones for government think tank SA国际传媒 (PIDS), two models of agricultural development were compared. The first is a "protectionist approach鈥� typical of the country鈥檚 current "highly conservative鈥� outlook; the second is the alternative,鈥� which advocates the engagement of Philippine agriculture with the global market, "through trade and specialization on comparative advantage鈥�. The second option, "entails more liberal trade policies (lowering of tariffs and non-tariff barriers) as well as directing expenditure support on a more neutral basis, i.e. greater outlays towards products with lower support, which typically are the export-oriented commodities (i.e. products for which the Philippines has comparative advantage).鈥�