Jinggoy to probe transfer of NFA's P8-billion rice subsidy to DSWD

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan, Philippines – Sen. Jinggoy Estrada vowed to initiate a Senate investigation on the transfer of the P8-billion rice procurement subsidy of the National Food Authority (NFA) to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

He said the transfer of funds poses a big problem and it must be scrutinized “to know why it is being juggled or transferred to other departments.”

“We have to know why they are transferring funds from NFA to DSWD,” he said.

Earlier, Bulacan farmers and the employees association of the NFA bewailed the plans to transfer the P8-billion rice procurement fund of the agency.

Melencio Domingo, head of the Malolos City Agriculture and Fisheries Council (MCAFC), said the transfer will only cause injury to farmers who, for the last two years, have been enjoying P17 per kilo buying price of NFA.

He said instead of removing the palay procurement budget from the NFA, the government should increase its annual budget to help more farmers.

Domingo added that local farmers are willing to stand beside NFA and if needed, they will stage protest at the NFA main office.

The same was echoed by Liza Sacdalan, chair of the Central Luzon Organic Rice Producers Association (CLORPA), who said that without the NFA palay procurement subsidy, local farmers will again be at the mercy of commercial traders.

Like Domingo, Sacdalan warned that high cost of farm inputs and low buying rate offered by commercial traders may lead to massive land conversion as farmers may just sell their farms, and this could lead to instability in the country’s food security in the future.

Roman Sanchez of the NFA Employees Association, on the other hand, said that transferring the NFA palay procurement subsidy contravenes the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Aquino to eliminate middlemen in the marketing of farm produce.