The British Chamber of Commerce Philippines (BCCP) has lent its endorsement to the Fifth State of the Nation Address, singling out the government’s renewed commitment to agricultural resilience for praise — a commitment forged, in no small part, by the sobering lessons of the past year.
The President’s Report to the People was candid about the vulnerabilities exposed by conflict in the Middle East, which sent shockwaves through global commodity markets and left the Philippines exposed to the specter of stagflation. As the report itself put it, “That same external shock rippled into the country’s food systems. In 2025, agriculture posted its fastest growth since 2018, only to soften in early 2026 as fuel and fertilizer costs rose and logistics were strained by the tensions in the Middle East. This underscored the need for sustained investments in our farmers, fisherfolk, and agricultural infrastructure to strengthen food and water security.”
For the British Chamber, the address validated years of quiet diplomacy. Executive Vice Chairman Chris Nelson pointed to the organization’s sustained engagement with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the UK’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — an effort aimed at deepening trade in British agricultural exports, with meat and meat preparations emerging as a particularly significant line item. The Chamber also welcomed Executive Order No. 116, s. 2026, viewing it as part of a broader administrative push to stabilize food supply and contain inflationary pressure.
Beneath the diplomatic pleasantries, however, lies a more pointed policy argument. In a statement, the Chamber noted it had “consistently advocated for lower tariffs on pork and other meat products and have supported, since 2023, the proposed increase in the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) to better align with the country’s growing population, address supply challenges arising from African Swine Fever (ASF), and help mitigate food inflation.”
The disease remains a live concern: as of July 24, 2026, the Bureau of Animal Industry recorded active cases across twelve regions, spanning nineteen provinces, thirty cities and municipalities, and forty-five barangays — a reminder that the domestic herd remains under sustained pressure.
It is against this backdrop that Nelson makes his case for British imports as a stabilizing force, citing a 9.3 percent increase in pork import volume and a 6.8 percent increase in beef import volume in May 2026 as evidence that diversified, quality imports can ease supply constraints even as ASF continues to erode local production capacity. The Chamber’s broader message is one of complementarity rather than substitution: imports and domestic productivity, it argues, must advance in tandem if the country’s food supply is to prove genuinely resilient over the long term.
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