By MIKHAELA EMY SALLE
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A farmers group has called on the National Food Authority (NFA) to increase its palay procurement fund for 2024, saying that buying at least 20 percent of the local palay production may help lower the prices of rice in the market.

In a statement, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said the government needs to allot P90 billion ($1.5 billion) budget for this.

“There is an urgency to reinstate NFA’s functions that were removed by the Rice Liberalization Law (RLL). Only then can the NFA have an influence on the local rice industry that is now dominated by the private sector. One of the priorities now is to be able to lower the price of rice and to make it affordable,” said KMP.

As it stands, the rice liberalization law removed the NFA’s function to regulate the local grains industry, monitor and supervise rice and corn businesses, and enforce rules and regulations on rice trading, leaving them with only the function of buffer stocking for calamities and emergencies.

Read: #TheRealDuterteLegacy | Farmers bear the brunt of Duterte’s rice liberalization policy
Read: Self-sufficiency entails repeal of rice liberalization law 

“Due to Republic Act 11203 or Rice Liberalization Law, the NFA lost its power to buy palay from farmers. They were instead limited to purchasing buffer stock. The law also removed the regulatory and price stabilization functions of the NFA,” said KMP chairman emeritus Rafael Mariano.

Mariano, who was a former agrarian reform secretary, said that if these NFA functions can be restored, “it can influence the retail prices of rice in the local market.”

Keep the smugglers behind the bars

Meanwhile, the farmers group also asked the government to address the smuggling of agricultural products, particularly rice, sugar, and vegetables, saying that meaningful steps that can put a stop to this has yet to be done.

“It is not enough that they raid the warehouse (where smuggled goods are stored). There is a need to identify, arrest, file necessary charges, and hold to account those behind smuggling,” said KMP chairperson Danilo Ramos.

Ramos said that even if there is a stricter law on smuggling, “if law enforcers and concerned agencies are remiss on their task to catch smugglers, then smuggling would continue and even proliferate.”

In September, according to BOC, they confiscated over 42,000 sacks of rice valued at P44 million ($773K) from a storage facility in Zamboanga City, another 36,086 sacks of imported rice from Vietnam, Thailand, and Myanmar valued over P90.2 million ($1.5 million) from a warehouse in Tondo, Manila, and some imported rice from Vietnam, Thailand, and China worth P40-million ($703K) were also confiscated in Las Pinas City.

However, Ramos said he has yet to see suspected smugglers held to account.

Read: Farmers say agricultural smugglers go unpunished

KMP opposes tariff reduction

KMP said it will remain firm on its stand against the government’s proposal to cut the tax on imported rice from 35 percent to 10 percent.

According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Marcos administration sees that lowering import taxes on agricultural products such as grain might work as a possible substitute for the rice price ceiling.

Mariano believes the government is going to lose up to P22 billion ($387.5 million) if the tariff is repealed. (JJE, RTS)