CEBU CITY— Senator Imee Marcos proposed a “better guarantee” to bring down the cost of rice than authorizing the National Food Authority (NFA) to bring rice directly to wet markets.
“Cut out the middlemen and revive the long-neglected NFA-FTI-KADIWA system. The government’s price monitors won’t need to play cat-and-mouse with wet market retailers, thus better guarantee the lowest rice prices,” Marcos suggested.
Marcos cited the national food security program in the 70’s that involved the NFA’s direct purchase of local agricultural produce, their centralized collection and distribution by the Food Terminal Inc., and their sale at discounted prices at KADIWA retail stores.
Rice lands across the country stricken by drought due to the El Niño have raised fears of leaner local harvests, a tighter NFA rice buffer stock, and higher retail prices of the Filipino food staple.
As the Lower House sought to amend the RTL, Marcos credited the law for lowering rice prices during its first year of implementation.
“It was, however, unduly demonized when rampant rice importation later pulled down farmgate prices of palay amid rising production costs. Many rice farmers were forced to abandon their livelihood. We can introduce some safeguards into the law to make it more responsive to the current situation without completely overhauling it,” she said.
When an excessive supply of imported or local rice causes a crash in prices, the bill also gives the President power to stop importation until both supply and prices stabilize.
The senator called attention to her amendments to Republic Act 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, which she proposed in Senate Bill 642. The bill emphasizes the need for financial assistance to farmers displaced by wholesale importation.
“We should not forget the interests of farmers when consumers clamor for lower prices,” Marcos pointed out.
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