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Philippines
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Farmers group bucks proposal to abolish NFA

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The country’s biggest farmers group opposed the proposal by several lawmakers to abolish the state-run National Food Authority once the quantitative restriction on rice is lifted.

The Federation of Free Farmers warned the proposal would be dangerous to consumers and rice farmers because of the possibility of collusion among rice importers.

“They are saying that open competition among importers and market players will ensure that rice prices will go down. What if it does not happen,” said FFF president Ruben Presilda.

The group said big-time importers who could easily release billions to bring in imported rice could also manipulate the price of rice for higher profit.

It said a regulatory agency would be important to oversee rice-related activities such as assistance to farmers, rice price stabilization and import monitoring.

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Presilda blamed Senator Win Gatchalian and the representatives of the Finance Department, the National Economic Development Authority and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to the NFA board for spearheading the call to shut down NFA.

“Some well-financed groups could be aiming to control the lucrative rice market and will find it easier to do so if there is no NFA to monitor and counter their moves,” he said.

He said farmers may also be forced to sell their lands for property development and give up farming, altogether, once local rice could no longer compete with cheap imports.

FFF national manager Raul Montemayor said that instead of dismantling NFA, the government should carefully review its mandate while taking steps to address corruption issues within the agency.

“Even with its reduced role in the rice market, the agency can help implement an electronic trading system by which farmers in remote areas can sell their products directly to buyers in urban centers,” he said.

He added that NFA’s licensing and monitoring functions should be retained to ensure that speculators and unscrupulous importers would not manipulate the market at the expense of producers and consumers.

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