SEN. Cynthia Villar on Monday asked the Department of Agriculture (DA) to return the P4 billion meant for programs to assist farmers after the lifting of the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports.
Villar, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, recalled that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released P5 billion in December last year in anticipation of the enactment into law of Republic Act (RA) 11203, which mandated the creation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
In a statement, Villar noted that of the amount, only P1 billion went to RCEF’s program providing farmers access to cheap credit through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
Outgoing Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol maintained that the P5 billion released by the DBM to the DA last year was not part of the RCEF.
With the appointment of William Dar as secretary of DA, Villar expressed hope that the department will now be more supportive of the full implementation of the law and that the new secretary will prioritize the return of P4 billion to RCEF.
“Even if the money has been spent as the measure has not been passed, the DA should have waited and should not have spent the money for other things. I want the DA to account for the remaining P4 billion and also to make sure that P4 billion will be immediately returned to RCEF,” Villar said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Villar added the amount is needed to jump-start the programs enumerated in the law, which was already delayed by the late approval of the 2019 General Appropriations Act.
RA 11203, which was signed by President Duterte on February 14, replaced the QR on rice imports with tariffs. The collected amount will be given to farmers to improve their competitiveness through RCEF.
“What I do not want to hear is that only P5 billion is left for RCEF this year. That is not right, it is against the law,” Villar said.
Under RCEF, P5 billion will be allocated to the Philippine Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) for the procurement of farm equipment to be distributed to 947 rice producing towns in the Philippines.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) will get P3 billion so it could teach farmers how to produce inbred seeds, which will increase their yield by up to 50 percent from 4 metric tons per hectare to 6 MT per hectare.
The LandBank and the DBP will also be given P1 billion from the RCEF for the creation of a credit facility with minimal interest rates and collateral requirements.
The remaining P1 billion is allocated to PhilMech, PhilRice, the Agriculture Training Institute and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for the skills training of farmers in rice crop production, modern rice farming techniques, seed production, farm mechanization, farm machinery servicing and maintenance, and knowledge and technology transfer through farm schools nationwide.