BusinessNlirror
Friday, Septemb er 2O,2Ol9
SOLONS SEEK P15-B NFA FUND TO BUY PALAY
llv Jovtr,VleRrt N. oerl Cnlz
. t @javeemdrie
r aWMAKFRS from the Mak-
I ubuuun bloc on Thursdav filed
l-" Horr" Joint Resolution pro-
viding for a supplemental budget
of P]5 billion to the National Food
Authority (NFA) for the purchase of
unhusked rice from planters in the
fourth quarter.
House Joint Resolution 18 was
also signed by 47 lawmakers who
expressed their support for it The
resolution indicated thatthe supple-
mental budget will be used for the
'?xclusive and urgent Procurement"
ofat least 750,000 metric tons (MT)of
palay from local farmers at the farm-
gate price ofP20 per kilogram, which
the NFA should sell at P27 per k9.
The solons said the NFA can only
I,
purchase 350,000 IMT or 7 million
5o-kilogram sacks of palayfrom local
farmersat P20 per kgfarm gate price
through its current buffer-stocking
budget of P7 billion for this Year.
"ThecountrY isonce again entering
the harvest season ofthg lean second
cropping. The NFA must be refueled
with adequate funds sg that it can
procurea substantial ponion fromthe
coming harvest,' said the resolution.
Wet seagon harvest will begin in
October and farmers'qrouP. such as
the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF)
lnc., said the farm-gate price of rice
could go down further during this
period.
citing data from the Philippine
Statistics Authority(P5A), the solons
said the average farm-9ate price of
palay has hit its lowest in more than
twoyears,ascheap impdrted ricesur-
,
\ PAq€ - a€'/
passed 1.3 million metrictons during
the first half of 2019.
Lawmakers said the additional
budget for NFA will ease the imPact
of the rice trade liberalization law
which opened the floodgates for the
"massive"importation of rice, leading
to a sharp decline infarm-9ate prices
and huge losses for planters.
TheysaidthePl billion allocation
for expanded rice credit assistance
under the Rice Competitiveness En-
hancement Fund {RCEF) as Part of
the rice trade liberalization law is
certainly not enough to aid rice fa rm-
ers, "notwithstanding the fact that
It requires minimum collateral and
imposes minimum interest rates."
Also, citing farmers'grouPs, the
solons noted that some regions, such
as Central Luzon, are reporting farm-
gate price levels at P 1 1 per kg or even
P7 in some areas.
They added Filipino farmers have
lost around P4O billion injustthe first
halfofthe 201 9 due to the huge drop
in the price of palaY.
The solons said the DePartmentof
Agriculture's Expanded Survival and
Recovery Assistance program for Rice
Farmers (SURE Aid) amounting to P 1.5
billion will only provide each farmer
P15,000 in the form of zero-interest
loans, and will only cover 100,000
planters out of the total estimated
2.4 million rice farmers nationwide.
Republic Act 11203, otherwise
known as "An Act Liberalizing the
lmportation, Exportation and Trad-
ing of Rice, Lifting for the Purpase
the Quantitative Restriction on Rice,
and for Other Purposes,'was signed
into law on February 14 by Prdsident
Duterte.