Bulacan airport ready to take off

Just recently, several overseas Filipino worker groups have asked both the Office of the President and the Department of Transportation to fasttrack negotiations for a new international airport in Bulacan.

These OFW groups are of course referring to the P735-billion proposed New Manila International Airport in Bulakan, Bulacan of San Miguel Corp. (SMC) which has already been approved by the NEDA Board and will be subject to a Swiss Challenge in 2019.

These groups, according to their letter, are longing for a world-class airport that can unlock the country’s growth potential.

Susan Ople, who heads the Blas F. Ople Policy Center which also signed the petition, said her group wrote the letter as an expression of support not just to the building of a new airport in Bulacan but also for other major infrastructure projects that would lead to job creation and OFW reintegration.

She said that optimism is high that once these critical projects begin, the floodgates for more jobs and potential investments will be flung wide open and that hopefully, more OFWs would be enticed to return and reunite with their families because more local jobs would be open to them.

Other groups that signed the petition are the Integrated Seafarers of the Philippines, OFW Watch, OFW Chamber of Commerce, OFW Council of Leaders-KSA, Kabalikat ng Migranteng Pilipino, Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, LBS Recruitment Solutions Corp., Philippine Association of Migrant Workers & Advocates, Kaibigan ng OCWs, OFW Committee, Zonta Club of Quezon City, United Filipino Seafarers, Ang Kaagapay ng Bawat OFW, Filipino Malaysian Cultural Sports and Workforce Training Program, and Bulacan Federation of OFW Family Circle Officers.

They said that Bulacan province is fast becoming the next growth area. It is adjacent to Metro Manila and a strategic neighbor of Pampanga, thus accelerating and strengthening the growth corridor for investments and tourism for the Central Luzon-Northern Luzon corridor.

Their clamor is truly understandable. Airport development is linked to economic development and having a world-class airport at no expense to our government should be a priority.

The NEDA Board chaired by President Duterte earlier gave the green light to the concession agreement with SMC for the proposed Bulacan airport, paving the way for a Swiss Challenge to the unsolicited proposal early this year.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said that during the NEDA Board meeting held before Christmas, the Cabinet-level, interagency body approved the concession agreements for the proposed airport.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Ernesto Pernia said the Swiss Challenge is scheduled this month.

A new world-class airport financed solely by the private sector but benefitting the whole nation is one infrastructure project that should receive the full support of the Duterte administration.

NFA to buy locally

Sen. Cynthia Villar has reminded Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol that the National Food Authority (NFA) will not be able to sell cheap rice to the public under the Rice Tariffication Bill, which was approved on third and final reading by both Congress.

Villar told Piñol that the NFA is no longer allowed to import rice under the new law but only allowed to buy from local farmers.

Earlier, President Duterte said that even with rice tariffication and liberalization of the rice industry, the NFA shall continue to provide the public, particularly the less fortunate, with rice that is affordable and safe.

Once the bill is signed into law by the President, the NFA will be directed to buy palay from local farmers and together with DA, will focus on developing a cost-efficient system that will help reduce the production cost of locally-produced rice and stabilize rice prices.

Villar, the principal author of the bill, added that the rice subsidy of the Department of Social Welfare and Development amounting to P28 billion should be bought from the local farmers.

The quantitative restriction on importation of rice by the Philippines allowed by the World Trade Organization expired on June 30, 2017.

The Philippines has to liberalize the importation of rice so Congress passed the law on rice tariffication to protect Filipino farmers from imported rice.

The tariff will be 30 percent on rice imports from ASEAN countries as per agreement and 50 percent from the rest of the world. 

Proceeds from the tariff will be given to the farmers in the amount of P10 billion a year for the next six years to make the farmers competitive by mechanization (P5 billion), better seed production (P3 billion), and cheaper credit from Landbank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (P1 billion).

Ten percent shall be made available for extension services provided by PhilMech, PhilRice, Agricultural Training Institute, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for teaching skills on rice crop production, modern rice farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization and knowledge/technology transfer through farm schools nationwide. Seventy percent will go to TESDA, and 10 percent each to ATI, PhilRice and PhilMech.

Villar, chair of the committee on food and agriculture, also informed Pinol that the NFA will not be abolished with the implementation of the rice tariffication bill.

She said that only the regulatory and importation functions of the NFA will be removed, but the agency will remain, to solely focus on buffer-stocking with its inventory acquired from domestic farmers.

Villar explained that NFA will now be required to buy from local farmers for buffer-stocking purposes, instead of importing rice.

According to the senator, the budget for the NFA should be pegged at around P7 billion, strictly for the maintenance of a buffer stock to stabilize the rice supply and allow it to sell subsidized rice to the poor and to release emergency supplies during periods of calamity.

She added that with the NFA committed to buying domestically at P17 per kilo, with an additional P3 incentive, the price of NFA rice might be P33 per kilo, a level seen sufficient to achieve break-even levels.

Contrary to misconceptions, she said the bill includes a package of support programs that will help farmers adjust to competition under a tariffied regime.

Under the bill, Filipino farmers will have a fighting chance against farmers from neighboring ASEAN countries as cheaper rice will start flooding the market.

According to Villar, the bill creates the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or Rice Fund consisting of an annual appropriation of P10 billion for the next six years following the approval of this act.

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