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Roque promises to improve the predicament of rice growers.

MANILA – UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque promised to look into ways that would help Filipino rice farmers and protect them from the tariffication law’s negative effects.

If elected to the Senate, Roque claimed he would investigate the rice tariffication law (Republic Act 11203), which has liberalized the country’s rice trading, importation, and exportation but has graft-prone features.

To boost farmers’ income, the law allocates a PHP10 billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to agricultural machinery and equipment, rice seed development, enhanced rice credit assistance, and extension activities.

“The government should look into whether rice farmers’ ayuda (financial help) is prone to corruption and whether the collected tariff benefits them, “In a press statement issued on Monday, Roque stated.

The former congressman revealed that he had heard complaints over the years regarding poor farmgate pricing for palay (unhusked rice) and farmers’ access to machinery, particularly tractors.

As then-presidential spokesman, Roque recalls being privy to these matters because President Rodrigo Roa Duterte would urge local officials and citizens to email or submit all corruption-related issues to his office.

Since the tariffication law was passed in 2018, numerous rice farmers have complained that the purchase price for palay has dropped to as low as PHP12 per kilo.

“The agency can no longer acquire rice at a specific price because foreign rice is substantially cheaper,” Roque added, citing the National Food Authority (NFA). Even if we take into account the 40% tariff.”

The health and human rights advocate remarked, “The government must address this grave disservice to rice farmers who maintain the country’s economic backbone, agriculture.”

“Rather than simply raising their subsidy, we must ensure that palay have a higher purchasing price to protect their income and livelihood,” says the report “Added he.

He promised to investigate the claimed cartel on farm tractor dealerships and municipal officials who favored certain farmers over others when it came to the usage of machinery while charging others greater leasing costs.

According to a report by the Philippine News Agency, the Federation of Central Luzon Farmers Cooperative claimed farmers prefer to sell their palay to private traders rather than the NFA, which buys it for PHP19 per kg.

Due to rising production costs and gasoline prices, the organization has called on the government to raise the palay support price to at least PHP23 per kilo.

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