Deputy Minority Leader and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman has called on the government to increase the financial subsidy to the country’s three million farmers with the planned reduction of the tariff on rice from 35 percent to 15 percent to bring down the price of rice to P29 a kilo.
Hataman, a former governor of the now-defunct ARMM, said that his office is set to file a bill proposing an enhanced protection and more subsidies for Filipino farmers.
He noted that with farmgate prices of palay averaging at P25.21 in February of this year, Filipino rice farmers cannot stand against the price of imported rice in the market once the tariff reduction takes place.
“With this, I call on the government to increase financial subsidies to our rice farmers. ..We are an agricultural country with a slowly dwindling farmer population. We cannot just rely on rice imports,” he added.
He also said NFA should only buy from local farmers in the event that it re-acquires its mandate to offer cheaper rice when amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law are enacted into law.
The Basilan lawmaker asked the administration of President Bongbong Marcos to include more farmers in its financial assistance programs such as those under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), like the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the Ayuda para sa Kapos ang Kita Program (AKAP).
Hataman said the DA has a list of qualified farmers for government subsidies that it can use to target deserving beneficiaries in other social welfare programs of the government.
