STATEMENT BY THE
HONORABLE ROGER “OGING” MERCADO
Southern Leyte, Lone District
Chair, Committee on Constitutional Amendments
Deputy Majority Leader
Twitter: @OgingMercado
REP. ROGER MERCADO OPPOSES ANY FUTURE NFA MOVE TO IMPORT RICE
On behalf of the farmers of Southern Leyte who plant and harvest rice from 10,000 hectares of rice lands and produce about 10 percent of the rice of Eastern Visayas, I oppose any FUTURE decision of the National Food Authority to import rice from other countries that would be cheaper than our local rice and therefore disadvantageous to our local farmers.
I am not objecting now to the latest decision to import rice now to address the current NFA rice shortage, which I believe is a belated response to the problem we are already experiencing now. NFA action on the current situation was too slow.
Moving forward, the NFA should buy its NFA rice buffer stocks from Mindanao or the Visayas to augment NFA inventories in its warehouses in Mindanao and the Visayas.
Two moves the NFA should make soon are: (1) raise its buying price for palay from P17 per kilo to the range of P22 to P25 per kilo and (2) increase its rice incentives to a full P1.00. These would immediately and directly benefit the farmers of Southern Leyte and all over the country.
To compensate for the increase in the price of rice sold to the poorest consumers, the DSWD should start implementing in March its 4Ps subsidies for rice purchases.
REFERENCE:
https://beta.philstar.com/business/2017/12/11/1767412/nfa-defers-decision-hike-palay-buying-price Going to travel? Book your place to stay at
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Topic: National Food Authority to import rice (Read 592 times)