Camarines Sur Gov. LRay Villafuerte has called for all-out backing by local government units (LGUs) for measures issued by President Marcos extending the rice import ban and assigning a pivotal role to LGUs in boosting the incomes of palay growers come harvest time while at the same cutting down the retail cost of rice for consumers.
The senior vice chairman (for South Luzon) of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP), Villafuerte appealed for complete support among LGU officials for Executive Order (EO) No. 100, which had set a floor price for palay to shield farmers against unfairly low farmgate prices during harvest seasons.
Villafuerte called on local officials to likewise back EO 101 that sought the full implementation of Republic Act (RA) No. 11321, or the “Sagip Saka Act,” which established the Farmers and Fisherfolk Enterprise Development Program providing various types of assistance to farmers and fisherfolk to increase their incomes and improve their lives.
“With the poverty incidence remaining high among rural Filipinos, EO 100 and EO 101 will buoy the livelihoods and incomes of farmers and fisherfolk by putting in place price stability, income growth an assured markets for them,” said Villafuerte, who, as a former congressman, was an author of RA 11321.
“Both directives from the President point to the crucial role of LGUs in the twin goals of higher incomes for our palay growers and cheaper rice for Filipinos, especially ordinary consumers,” Villafuerte said, “hence, the primacy of full LGU support for EO 100 and EO 101 across the country,” Villafuerte said.
Also, Villafuerte backed the President’s issuance this November of EO 102, which extended the government’s suspension of imports of regular milled rice (RMR) and well-milled rice (WMR) until end-December.
Under RA 11203, of which Villafuerte was an author, P10 billion was set aside annually for the RCEF for interventions to sharpen our palay growers’ global competitiveness, particularly the provision of farm equipment, easy credit, high-yield seeds, extension work and training, and research and development (R&D).
EO 102 seeks to protect local palay growers from downward price pressures even during harvest seasons because of the entry of relatively cheaper imported rice, he said.
The President earlier issued EO 93, which suspended RMR and WMR imports for 60 days from Sept. 1 to Oct. 30, to prevent domestic oversupply and let farmers sell their produce at fair and reasonable farmgate prices.
Villafuerte said that LGU executives need to support the President’s trio of EOs, in line with the broader agenda of the Marcos administration to enhance food security and bring down rural poverty while advancing consumer welfare.
In signing EO 100, the President noted that “rising production costs coupled with climate- induced production risk and the widening profit margin gap between farmgate price and retail prices” compel the government “to guarantee a fair and just return to farmers by setting a floor price that covers production costs and provides reasonable income while ensuring the affordability and stability of rice supply for consumers.”
EO 100 is timely, he said, as farmers groups have griped that palay prices this harvest season have plunged to an average of P10 to P12 per kilo, and to as low as P8 in certain areas.
As for EO 101, the Chief Executive noted that RA 11321 mandated all national government agencies (NGAs), government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), state universities and colleges (SUCs) and LGUs (1) to align their programs, activities and projects (PAPs) with the “Sagip Saka Act,” and (2) “to directly purchase agricultural and fishery products from accredited farmers and fisherfolk cooperatives and enterprises, provided that said agricultural and fishery products are necessary in the performance of their respective mandates.”
Villafuerte pointed out that to ensure that market opportunities are fair and that bureaucratic barriers or red tape are gone for small farmers, EO 101 required all government entities to purchase agricultural and fishery products directly from accredited farmers’ and fisherfolk cooperatives and enterprises (FFCEs).
He said theat EO 101 established a Steering Committee—comprising officials from key government agencies, including the DA, Departments of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and the National Food Authority (NFA)—to assist in fixing and enforcing the would-be agreed upon floor price.
EO 101 also authorized NGAs and LGUs to use public facilities like covered courts or multipurpose halls as temporary storage sites for palay when warehouses are unavailable, to ensure that grains are proper handled and preserved.
The presidential order calls for greater convergence among NGAs, LGUs, academic institutions and the private sector in striving for inclusive agricultural growth and ensuring easy and consistent access of Filipino farmers and fisherfolk to markets and government support.
In the past Congress, Villafuerte was a proponent of a measure providing palay growers with cash transfers or subsidies, to be sourced from rice import tariff collections in excess of the P10 billion originally earmarked yearly for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), under RA 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
EO 101 also authorized NGAs and LGUs to use public facilities like covered courts or multipurpose halls as temporary storage sites for palay when warehouses are unavailable, to ensure that grains are proper handled and preserved.
Under RA 11203, of which Villafuerte was an author, P10 billion was set aside annually for the RCEF for interventions to sharpen our palay growers’ global competitiveness, particularly the provision of farm equipment, easy credit, high-yield seeds, extension work and training, and research and development (R&D).
Excess RCEF collections are to be used for other forms of financial aid to farmers.
Moreover, Villafuerte was an author of RA 12078, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act,” that extended the life of RCEF till 2031, and tripled its annual funding to P30 billion.
Villafuerte had likewise authored House Resolution (HR) 532 providing for congressional authorization for an immediate special fund—the proposed Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA)—to let the DA grant cash transfers to small farmers to help them cope with low palay prices during harvests, resulting from RA 11203’s lifting of quantitative restrictions (QRs) on rice imports.
Camarines Sur became one of the country’s Top 5 rice producers during Villafuerte’s first stint as governor prior to his election to the House of Representatives in 2016.
According to the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS)—Camarines Sur became the country’s 12th biggest rice producer in 2008 and a higher No. 8 in 2011. Camarines Sur went up to No. 4 rice producer in 2016.
Villafuerte had pushed, too, the congressional passage of HB 5583, which sought to mandate the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in coordination with the DA and NFA, to buy palay from local farmers, and distribute actual kilos of rice as subsidy, instead of cash, to beneficiaries of the DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) program.
