President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can issue an executive order to set a palay (unhusked rice) floor price for government purchases of rice products done under the Sagip Saka Act, Senator Kiko Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan, who has been pushing for the full implementation of the Sagip Saka Act — a 2019 law that he authored and passed allowing national government agencies and local government units to buy agricultural products directly from farmers and fisherfolk without public bidding — underscored how it can stabilize rice prices and help improve farmers’ income.
“Sagip Saka Law can stabilize rice prices and help improve farmers’ income.”
“Maybe an EO can actually be put together by the President or we will include it in the law, where a palay floor price, when government is buying palay from our farmers and fisherfolks for its calamity relief funds, for its feeding programs, provincial hospitals, provincial jails, all of these entities buy food,” the veteran legislator said.
The seasoned lawmaker explained that an EO would set the tone for farmers to enter into a negotiated contract, wherein they would be allowed to borrow from credit to mill the palay and sell it as rice to the government.
“So, the government can already step in and say, ‘Okay, we have a palay floor price. The government, when it can, should be able to do the palay or rice purchases, depending on the capacity of your farmers groups and organizations.’ So, that there is a support in that sense,” the senator added.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform urged Cabinet secretaries during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on the Proposed 2026 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to implement the Sagip Saka Law in their respective agencies.
“The Sagip Saka Law allowed Valenzuela City to save P15 per kilo for its rice subsidy programs.”
He also noted how the law allowed Valenzuela City to save P15 per kilo for its rice subsidy programs.
“It’s cheaper by P15 pesos rather than going through the regular procurement process because the law–Sagip Saka–allows it. Can you imagine if all LGUs in NCR are now going to do negotiated contracts with farmers from Bulacan, Region 3, then you’re going to have a game changer of sorts,” Pangilinan stressed.
