Cement makers, importers rap Roxas

Both local cement importers and manufacturers have expressed disappointment over the action taken by Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas II on imported cement.

Local consumer organizations said Roxas appears "to be acting as a lawyer for the cement industry at the expense of the consuming public."

"The ability of the local cement manufacturers to immediately bring down their prices in exchange for tariff protection is proof of an existing cement cartel," they said.

Local consumer organizations led by the Confederation of Homeowners Association for Reforms in Governance and Environment (CHARGE), the Consumers Union of the Philippines (CUP) and the Philippine Consumer Watch Foundation (Bantay Mamamayan) are preparing to bring a "cartel case" against the Big Three in the cement industry under the Price Act which defines clearly what a cartel is and prescribes the basis for prima facie evidence.

The local consumer organizations are asking why the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Consumer Welfare Group refuses to investigate the cartel-like operation of the cement industry.

"Roxas seems to be acting as lawyer of the cement industry at the expense of the consuming public," they lamented.

The Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (Philcemcor) was likewise unhappy with Roxas’ admission that he cannot overturn the recommendation of the Tariff Commission to lift the provisional tariff on imported cement.

"It is inconceivable that there is a serious injury to a local industry pursuant to the pertinent law, but there is reportedly no available remedy within the parameters of the same law," Philcemcor spokesman Edcel C. Lagman said.

Lagman said "a reading of the law (the Safeguard Measures Act) in its entirety, which is the proper mode of statutory construction, reveals that the Tariff Commission’s report, whether positive or negative, is merely recommendation and subject to the review, modification or reversal by the DTI secretary."

In a related development, Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar Jr. scored yesterday what he described as intensive lobbying efforts of local cement manufactruers to retain tariffs on imported cement. Villar said this would be tantamount to "economic sabotage."

"Stopping the entry of cheaper imported cement will have negative economic repercussions," Villar said as he accused local cement manufacturers of manipulating prices and "exorbitant profiteering."

The senator said the foreign cement firms, known as the Big Four – Lafarge, Cemex, Blue Circle and Holderbank – are afraid cheaper imports will force them to drop their prices to a fairer rate.

He called on the government to uphold the Tariff Commission’s ruling to scrap the P20.60 tariff on imported cement.

Villar explained the availaibility of cheaper cement would benefit the economy as it would spur construction and eventually provide employment to millions of Filipinos.

Likewise, Villar said the cement prices must be lowered to solve the four million unit-housing backlog as well as acute shortage of classrooms. Cheaper cement, he added, would also lower the cost of vital infrastructure projects needed for the country’s development such as farm to market roads and bridges in the countryside.

"A construction boom can provide millions of jobs owing to its multiplier effect on various sectors," Villar said.

The senator stressed it would benefit allied industries and help promote economic growth and recovery.

Villar said the Big Four succeeded in dominating the market and dictating prices way above their normal costs to the deriment of the economy. A bag of cement costs around P130 from as low as P49 in the late 1990s.

"With the exorbitant price of cement who would want to undertake construction projects?" Villar argued. –With Aurea Calica