Cement workers seek ‘safeguard measures’

Amid fears that the Tariff Commission may rule against their favor, cement industry trade unions asked the Arroyo administration yesterday to set up "safeguard measures" against the unchecked importation of foreign cement.

The three-member Tariff Commission, which has been hearing a landmark petition filed by the local cement producers for the imposition of safety nets under Republic Act 8800, is set to rule on the controversy on March 21.

The Philippine Cement Workers Council (PCWC) –which has found an ally in Akbayan party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales – said many local industries are awaiting the Tariff Commission ruling with trepidation. The council noted the petition would test whether the safety nets provided by law against the adverse consequences of globalization will indeed work.

The PCWC had sought to intervene in the petition but the commission barred it, relegating it instead to the status of an observer.

Republic Act 8800 provides local industries safety nets in the form of higher tariffs under the World Trade Organization in the face of unfair foreign trade practices, such as dumping.

The Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (Philcemcor), an association of 17 cement producers, has complained that businessmen have been dumping cement from countries like Indonesia, selling it at outrageously low prices.

To make matters worse, the big importers have allegedly even resorted to smuggling cement into the country.

Trade and Industry Secretary Mar Roxas has imposed a tariff of P20.60 per bag on imported cement for 200 days as a temporary measure while the Tariff Commission, which is attached to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), is hearing the petition.

But the PCWC noted that while the DTI secretary’s move was a big help, it is only temporary. "His action not only saved many workers their jobs but also stabilized consumer prices. However, the more definitive measure will have to be made by the Tariff Commission," said Serge Torres, a union official at the Republic Cement and a top leader of the PCWC.

Torres said a negative ruling could lead to the closure of cement plants, which would be unable to compete with low-priced imports.

Rosales said the refusal of the commission to allow the group to intervene in the case was unfortunate because cement workers contribute significantly to the domestic economy. She noted that 97 cement workers of one cement plant alone paid more taxes than the four biggest cement importers.

"These 97 workers," she said, "paid P3.2 million in taxes to the government in the year 2000." But the big four importers – TCC Cement Corporation, Cohaco Trading, Batumbakal Trading and NGC Land Corporation – on the other hand, only paid a total of P951, 433 in taxes for the same year, said Rosales.

She said as it is, the tariff imposed by the government on imported cement is a low three percent. Yet, foreign-manufactured cement is still being smuggled into the country with impunity.

"Already, the largest cement importer, TCC Cement, was caught red-handed by the Bureau of Customs of using falsified invoices and tampered documents to defraud the government of revenues," said Rosales, adding that three ships ferrying thousands of bags of smuggled Indonesian cement were intercepted by Customs officials recently

She noted that elsewhere in the world, governments are re-examining earlier commitments made to the WTO while the Philippines seems determined on removing all tariffs in keeping with its schedule of commitments to the World Trade body.

She noted that only recently, the United States, which is supposed to be the main proponent of globalization, has decided to impose a punitive 30 percent tariff on steel imports to protect its local industry.

"The workers are concerned about the ideology of free-trade that pervades our economic policy makers," she said. "This ideology believes in lowering tariffs and opening our markets as an end in itself. They push our ill-prepared local industries to immediately engage in the arena of globalization, even if they know that our industries, for lack of preparation, will be immediately gobbled up by the competition."