By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN
[ Manila Bulletin Online ] November 29, 2008
The cement industry workforce appealed yesterday to President Arroyo to reconsider her order eliminating tariff on imported cement, saying the move would possibly result in their loss of jobs and subsequent serious economic dislocation of their families.
The Philippine Cement Workers Council (PCWC) aired the appeal amid fears by key industry players and stakeholders that lifting of the tariff barrier would open the floodgates for possible unregulated importation of the construction material leading to dumping in the domestic market.
The cement workers viewed Executive Order 766 temporarily scrapping the cement tariffs as a "death warrant for us, our families and our employers," said PCWC secretary general Samuel Eslava.
The cement workers also warned that without the tariff protection, they would be "vulnerable to the onslaught of cheap imported cement, resulting in substantial market share and revenue losses and ultimately, collapse of a capital intensive and strategic industry."
He said: "Nangangamba kami hinggil sa posibleng pagkatanggal sa trabaho, Kapag nangyari ‘yun, anong kinabukasan ang naghihintay sa aming mga pamilya?" (We are afraid about the possibility of losing our jobs.)
For his part, PCWC national coordinator Felix Deyta Jr. said that there is still time for Malacañang to rethink its position on the cement tariff issue. The Palace has 30 days before implementing the order. Deyta is referring to the prescribed 30-day notice after publication in the Official Gazette or any newspaper of general circulation.
Eslava stressed that acts leading to retrenchments run counter to the government’s thrust of job generation to effectively address mass poverty, which remains one of the country’s major economic and social problems.
He also pointed out that this is not only harming the cement workers’ livelihood and general welfare. It also affects the entire population who need infrastructure for their general economic progress. With infrastructure harmed because of possibly unreliable supply, substandard products and higher prices, the whole nation will suffer.
