NFA plan to import 330,000 MT rice assailed

MANILA, Philippines — Former Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Leonardo Montemayor yesterday branded as illegal the plan of the DA and National Food Authority (NFA) to import 330,000 metric tons of rice, saying this violates the provision of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

Montemayor, who also heads the Federation of Free Farmers, pointed out that “the NFA, under the RTL, can only source its buffer stock from local farmers.”

“Why go against the law and patronize foreign rice producers instead of domestic ones?” he asked in reaction to the DA and NFA proposal to President Marcos to import 330,000 MT rice to address the deficit in the country’s buffer stock this year.

“The RTL clearly restricts its mandate to maintaining buffer stocks sourced from local farmers,” Montemayor stressed.

Marcos met with DA officials on Thursday to address the issue on rice supply in the country.

The officials said in a statement that the proposed buffer stock is equivalent to only nine days of national consumption from July 2023 onwards.

They also said this would ensure enough volume for calamity and relief requirements from July to December this year.

Bantay Bigas spokesperson Cathy Estavillo supported Montemayor’s position, saying the NFA is mandated to buy directly from local farmers under RA 11203.

“The NFA failed to buy palay from the farmers despite harvest season as it is only mandated to buy at P19 per kilo compared to the ongoing prevailing farmgate price of dry palay at P23 per kilo and fresh palay at P18.50 to P19 per kilo,” Estavillo told The STAR.

“It is ironic that the sole mandate of NFA is buffer stocking, which should come from local production, but fails to deliver it,” she added.

Estavillo urged government to allow the NFA to again sell subsidized rice in the market at P27 to P32 per kilo and to junk RA 11203.

She also called on Marcos to give up the DA secretary post.

“The DA needs a secretary working 24/7 a day to address the crisis on food. We hope that the new secretary should have heart for farmers and poor consumers and be ready to hear their concerns,” she said.

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura is also opposed to the planned importation as its executive director, Jayson Cainglet, noted that imported rice continues to arrive in the country, which received a total of 746,253 metric tons as of March 30, 2023.

“There is no need to import. Our stocks, without importation, are good until August. Private importation has not been stopped so our buffer stocks will further increase,” Cainglet said.

He noted that the NFA has a P9-billion budget to fund the procurement of palay from local farmers.

“For buffer stocking or emergency purposes, they can ask for additional funds. The DA always resorts to importation as a solution that will only help foreign traders and importers,” Cainglet stressed.

For his part, former agrarian reform secretary and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas head Rafael Mariano also slammed the import proposal, saying the farmers should be the priority of the DA and NFA.

“The first order for the DA and the NFA should be to help farmers increase their productivity to achieve the targeted rice production and augment the rice buffer stock. The NFA’s pushing for rice importation is a great disservice to farmers and Filipinos,” Mariano said.

According to Mariano, the move of the NFA counters Marcos’ declaration that domestic rice supply is sufficient. — Emmanuel Tupas