The real rotten eggs

I have of late been seeking “wisdom and understanding” concerning plans to go into contract growing of chickens. Nothing big-time, just something productive enough to create an alternative income stream that would be a little bit more predictable.

At age 54, I now belong to a category of people who are well aware of two things; some friends our age have started to pass away, and people our age have less and less opportunities in terms of projects and contracts.

You can’t do much about the inevitability of dying except be ready to meet the Lord, so there’s not much of a point to be scared. What seems to be of more “real” concern for people in our category is the ability to provide for our families as well as being productive and active.

So, that’s what I’ve been seriously up to for several weeks. Reading, visiting and interviewing people, who directly or indirectly have something to do with raising and selling chickens as well as pigs.

As expected, the field is divided in the middle concerning the viability and just how good an idea contract growing of chickens really is. Unless you use your powers of discernment, you will tend to think that the “Nay Sayers” would win the argument.

What got my attention in the many arguments or observations that make or break contract growing or poultry and hog raising is the issue of “SMUGGLING”. Most of us don’t really give it a whole lot of thought because we assume that lower prices are always good for consumers.

Not always.

Almost everyone I visited agreed that smuggling does more damage to the entire industry and economy more than Bird Flu or Foot and Mouth disease because of UNFAIR TRADE. 

The smuggled chicken, pork, even rice was subsidized by the government of the country of origin, no taxes were paid, the products did not undergo any health regulatory process and the smugglers won’t be identifiable in the event of a health related crisis or outbreak.

As consumers, what we gain in “cheap chicken, pork or rice”, we lose in terms of health risks such as chemical contaminants, genetically modified grains, tainted meat or even double dead products.

By allowing smuggling to kill off the local growers, we insure our dependency on importation and exposure to health risks. Even in developed countries, there is no more denying the fact that “factory raised chicken and pigs are so loaded with medications”.

The question is, what is the Aquino government going to do about such types of smuggling that cause REAL damage to our people and to our economy? To date, has anybody heard of any chicken, pork or rice smuggler actually being caught and charged by the Bureau of Customs and the BIR?

From where the growers stand, it seems that Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Commissioner Lito Alvarez of the Bureau of Customs seems to be spending too much time focusing on imported cars and the automotive industry rather than on smugglers that affect millions of Filipinos as well as our food security.

Since his first attempt at being Secretary of Finance under the Arroyo administration, Secretary Purisima has shown his love to a particular lobby group in the auto industry.

In an effort to stem the importation of second hand cars through Subic Bay port, a DOF order imposing a P500,000 excise tax for any such car imported into the Philippines was issued.

The courts quashed the order in favor of Subic importers but backfired on returning residents from abroad who brought home their personal cars from the US, Canada etc. The lobby group called it collateral damage. 

Ever since P-Noy won the election, the DOF and the BOC have highlighted their so-called efforts on two or three individuals charged with tax evasion on imported luxury vehicles. Customs Commissioner Alvarez has been quoted as saying he is intent on going after a Korean car manufacturer and their local representatives due to tax issues.

It seems that a local lobby is so strong that one man, or one small lobby group now directs the priorities of the entire Department of Finance and it’s agencies.

Yes, cars are sexy and the media always bites this shiny apple, but if we actually do the numbers, which “industry” has more impact in terms of the population as well as the total sum of money invested and spent in it?

The entire nation needs and eats chicken, pork and rice. Almost every Filipino from age 5 and above starts and continues to consume chicken, pork and rice for life. These products run up a multi-billion-peso industry. So why is no one being arrested and charged for smuggling chicken, pork, rice as well as beef?

So here I am, contemplating on whether I should sell some personal belongings, borrow money to raise the P1.5 - P2 million needed to put up a poultry and pray that I can get my ROI or return on investment in two years while competing with smugglers.

Or should I just fly out to China, the US or wherever they sell excess chemical laden chicken, smuggle it into the Philippines in refrigerated container vans, find a corrupt broker and make more money than I would raising chickens for 34 days? Can I beat them or should I simply join them?

It’s not the business risks that concern me; it is the wrong priorities and failure of government that I find very disturbing.

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