Rice farmers on Friday blamed the Rice Tariffication Law or Republic Act No. 11203 for the drop in the prices of “palay” or unhusked rice to their disadvantage.
In an interview, Danilo Ramos, Kilusang Magbubukid ang Pilipinas chairperson, called for the repeal of the law that caused the influx of cheaper imported rice.
“The rice trade liberalization is slowly killing the lowly farmers and the rice industry itself,” Ramos said, adding farmers are getting destitute.
“We went around to see if there was still NFA (National Food Authority) rice being sold in many markets. We saw none since over a week ago,” he told the Manila Standard.
This developed as lawmakers said Friday the NFA needs at least P10 billion to help farmers as RA 11203, which allows unlimited rice imports, affects their livelihood.
Makabayan bloc party-list legislators Carlos Zarate, Ferdinand Gaite and Euphemia Cullamat of Bayan Muna, France Castro of Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Arlene Brosas of Gabriela and Sarah Elago of Kabataan made the call after the tariffication law brought the farmgate prices of unmilled rice to as low as P7 per kilo.
“We in the Makabayan block see that P10 billion is needed by NFA to buy the palay from farmers at P20 per kilo, so the NFA could sell this to the market at P27 per kilo,” Zarate told reporters.
“That’s the budget the government needs to subsidize our farmers,” he added.
Rice farmers are suffering and are losing a lot of income because of the law, Ramos lamented.
Even rice millers are hurting, he said.
According to Ramos, while President Rodrigo Duterte has told the NFA to buy palay directly from the farmers, the law “has removed NFA’s role of palay procurement.”
“I have just come from Central Luzon and found out that a kilo of palay is being bought at P6 to P7 compared against the price of ‘darak’ (rice husk) at P12,” he said.
“The Rice Tariffication Law must be repealed,” Ramos added.
Gabriela party-list Arlene Brosas has filed House Bill No. 477 or the Rice Industry Development Act of 2019 to protect the both the welfare of the farmers and consumers, the KMP chief noted.
KMP is composed of 65 organizations of local farmers in 15 regions in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, according to Ramos.
Cathy Estabillo, Bantay Bigas spokesperson, on Thursday blamed the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law for government’s failure to stabilize the prices of rice in the market.
Under the law, the NFA could only be allowed to procure palay for its buffer stock of 15 days to 30 days only, she lamented.
“And that procurement would only be for calamity purposes,” Estabillo said.
At least 10 million Filipinos depend on NFA rice being sold at P27 per kilo, she said, citing data of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“The people, the millers and the farmers suffer a lot from the effects of the law,” she told the Manila Standard.
Estabillo said the P1.5-billion Survival and Recovery Assistance program is just a “palliative measure” that offers a P15,000 loan to a rice farmers cultivating one hectare or less at zero percent interest and payable in eight years.
“A cost of production for a one-hectare farm could peg at P50,000 to P65,000 to be able to plant rice. What good is the P15,000 loan?” she asked.
Silvestre Bonto, president of the National Confederation of Irrigators Association Inc. with over 1.2 million rice farmers, said despite the influx of imported rice, the prices of commercial rice in the market still remain high.
“The NCIA is the most affected group since 67 percent to 70 percent of the rice supply come from us,” he told the Standard.
He complained that prices of palay would range from P8 per kilo to P12 per kilo.
“What is too disappointing is, retailers in the markets or stores sell rice at a h high cost,” he said.
He partly blamed the retailers for the price increase of commercial rice, saying they sometimes dictate the prices of rice.
“Why is this so? A rice retailer sometimes could only sell two sacks of rice a day, or at a maximum of five to 10 sacks a day. How do you expect them to earn for day if they do not raise their prices?” he asked.