TACLOBAN CITY – The town of Biliran in Biliran province is hopeful that other local government units in the country will help bring down the price of rice to only PHP20 per kilogram as what they have been doing since last year.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Biliran municipal agriculture officer Lemuel Antonio said he was happy to hear in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday the latter's concern on the high prices of rice.
“I hope our local governments will do their part to help the President fulfill his vision to make rice more affordable to poor families. There is enough help from the government, but there’s no convergence of efforts of different government agencies to bring down the price of staple food,” Antonio told the Philippine News Agency
Farmers in Biliran town have been selling rice at only PHP20 per kilogram as a way of giving back to communities after receiving several aid from the government.
Antonio said that despite selling rice at a lower price, farmers still gain from this trade.
“Farmers earn as much as 35 percent under this scheme. The PHP20 per kilo of rice is realistic under the localized food security program. All the assistance from the government, including incentives from the local government, is enough for them to be able to sell cheap rice,” he added.
For decades, the Department of Agriculture has been providing free seeds and fertilizer to farmers.
Each bag of fertilizer costs PHP2,000, while a bag of rice seeds costs nearly PHP1,000. Some farmers get more than one bag of fertilizer and seeds.
In Biliran town, farmers also get incentives for production from the office of Mayor Myra Cabrales.
A farmer who gets a bag of fertilizer is obliged to sell a bag of rice (50 kilograms) to poor residents through the locally managed Kadiwa stores at only PHP20 per kilogram.
They are encouraged to sell their remaining palay (unhusked rice) to the National Food Authority (NFA).
“It’s good that our rice farmers are selling their produce to the NFA. If rice stocks are in warehouses of private traders, the government have no control over prices of it,” Antonio added.
For Lilibeth Abante, 55, of Burabod village in Biliran town, the program is both beneficial to farmers and poor consumers.
“There is still profit since our farm inputs are free. We only spend for labor in planting and harvesting,” said Abante, whose family owns a hectare of rice farm that can produce up to 100 bags or palay or 50 bags of milled rice
Her family is just one of the 470 rice farmers joining the program. Since last year, farmers have already sold 70 metric tons of rice in Biliran town, giving high priority to poor families with malnourished children.
Antonio said that aside from free seeds and fertilizers, farmers also benefit from subsidized insurance premium from Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, free irrigation services from the National Irrigation Administration, farm-to-market road projects, assistance to individuals in crisis from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Rice Farmer Financial Assistance program from DA.
During his 3rd SONA on Monday, President Marcos said good economic reports do not make any sense to poor families who are bothered by the high price of rice.
“The hard lesson of this last year has made it very clear that whatever current data proudly bannering our country as among the best-performing in Asia, means nothing to a Filipino, who is confronted by the price of rice at 45 to 65 pesos per kilo,” the Chief Executive said.
Biliran, a 5th-class town, is the first municipality in Eastern Visayas to respond to the vision of the President to lower the price of rice to PHP20 per kilo. (PNA)
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