PROTECTION FOR FARMERS. Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda urges the Department of Agriculture (DA) to impose hard measures to protect local rice farmers. On Wednesday (Oct. 17, 2019), he proposed reimbursing the local farmers the losses they incurred due to the government rice importation program that affected the farm gate prices of palay. (Photo from Rep. Joey Salceda's Facebook page)
LEGAZPI CITY -- Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda has urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to impose “hard” measures to protect local farmers by instituting a plan that would prevent the prices of palay from further decline.
In an interview on Wednesday, Salceda said the plan can protect rice farmers by way of reimbursing the rice production losses triggered by the negative effects of imported rice flooding the market.
"The failure to break down rice cartels and the suspension of the implementation of safeguard duties on rice imports by (DA) is sheer abandonment of the plight (of) hundreds of local farmers," he said.
Salceda was reacting to a DA move to defer the implementation of safeguard duties on rice imports even as prices of palay sank to an eight-year low.
The implementation of additional tariffs on rice importation would generate additional revenue to fund programs to uplift the livelihood of farmers and at the same time discourage rice importers from manipulating the prices of imported rice flooding the local market, he said.
The measure would make it more expensive for rice traders to import rice, Salceda said.
He also said DA must break the operation of rice cartels across the nation as they create a monopoly operated by traders who are also accredited grain importers.
Salceda said the DA should carry out a hard measure by reimbursing local farmers the losses they incurred due to the government rice importation program that has affected the farm gate prices of palay.
“The government should have used the PHP15 billion contingency fund of the President in giving farmers farm subsidies and reimbursement of farm losses. This way, it would help farmers in their recovery of what they lost,” he said.
Salceda, an economist, said the deferment of the safeguard duties on rice imports would only give traders dressed as importers to manipulate the prices of rice in the markets, defeating the objective of the program to bring cheap imported grain, thus bringing down the prices of commercial rice.
"Since retail prices of rice have fallen only by 6 percent, why should palay fall by 20 percent?” he asked.
According to the Albay solon, another plan would be to impose “economic tokhang” against rice traders who manipulate the prices of palay by imposing price caps, to the detriment of the farmers.
Rice traders are taking advantage of the situation because they believe the farmers have a very low bargaining position, he said.
The government should break this kind of trading practices so as not to be called “coddlers of rice cartels,” he said.
Congress has requested the Anti-Money Laundering Agency (AMLA) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate and look into rice traders suspected to be engaged in rice cartel operation. (PNA)
