Solons: No consensus yet on cement issue

At least eight ranking members of the House committee on trade and industry have cried foul over premature reports that the panel has reached a consensus pertaining to the ongoing congressional investigation into the unabated dumping of cheap imported cement into the country.

"How can that be when we still have to hold more public hearings on the issue?" asked Manila Rep. Harry Angping, chairman of the trade committee.

"We haven’t even read or reproduced all the position papers submitted by the concerned parties. So all these speculations are premature," he said.

Angping was reacting to recent news reports quoting Albay Rep. Jose Ma. Salceda as saying that the trade committee is inclined to recommend to the Department of Trade and Industry the rejection of a pending petition by local cement manufacturers for tariff protection against cement imports, which they claimed are slowly killing the local cement industry.

Angping personally made the clarification to the Philippine Cement Manufacturers Corp. (Philcemcor) shortly after Salceda’s statement came out, according to lawyer Susan Villanueva, the group’s spokesperson.

"The local cement industry is appreciative of Chairman Angping’s clarification," Villanueva said. "We are also trying to verify whether Rep. Salceda, indeed, made that statement, since it appears that his office did not issue any official press statement either. We are just concerned that certain quarters appears to be trying to preempt or prejudge the committee’s findings."

Angping’s concern was echoed by other members of the trade committee, including those representing cement-producing districts in Luzon and Mindanao.

They include Reps. Alipio Badelles (Iligan), Lorna Silverio (Bulacan), Manuel Ortega (La Union), Del de Guzman (Marikina), Prospero Nograles (Davao) and Marcos Cojuangco (Pangasinan).