SCIENCE CITY OF MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija--Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao on Friday, March 4 underscored the need for government to increase funding assistance to rice farmers, but also urged officials to ensure that loopholes for corruption are plugged.
In a press briefing here, Pacquiao vowed to review the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL) if elected president and called on government to protect local farmers from the influx of cheap imported rice that have flooded the market.
Pacquiao visited Munoz and other towns in Nueva Ecija, the country’s rice granary, as part of his presidential campaign.
He met with civic leaders and fellow masons in San Jose and Sto. Tomas after touring the National Carabao Center here.
In Guimba, Pacquiao proceeded to Barangay San Roque West for a consultation meeting with farmers. He had an early dinner with rice farmers and their families right in the middle of a rice field.
Pacquiao told reporters that addressing the plight of farmers hit by the double whammy of low cost of their products due to the RTL and the Covid-19 pandemic will be among his first acts once elected to the highest office in the country.
The PROMDI and PDP-Laban (Pimentel wing) standard-bearer said farmers have become helpless as they continue to grapple with the high cost of fertilizers and other farm supplies while the price of their produce continue to plummet due to the entry of imported and cheaper rice.
In order to swiftly address their problems, Pacquiao said government should increase funding assistance to them which is currently set at P5,000.
"Hindi sapat ng P5,000 at hindi lahat hindi nabibigyan lahat. sa P5,000 na iyan. Marami pa talagang nangyayari at hindi nakakarating sa mga farmers natin. Pagdating ng panahon 'no automation, no operation' ang ipatutupad natin para walang komisyon, komisyon na iyan atsaka walang corruption (P5,000 is not enough and not everybody receives it. A lot of things happen that it doesn't reach our farmers. When the time comes we will implement the 'no automation, no operation' scheme to prevent the grant of commissions and there will be no corruption)." he said.
Pacquiao said the Filipino farmers are suffering not only because of the pandemic but also because of the enactment of the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL). The RTL opened the floodgates to cheap and imported rice as it removed the quantitative restriction (QR) for the importation of rice commodities.
Pacquiao said that while the lifting of the QR is a government commitment as a signatory to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), he vowed to review the RTL to shield farmers from the effects of unrestricted rice importation.
One aspect in the RTL which needs to be reviewed is the allocation of farm input subsidies for farmers financed through rice import tariffs.
Pacquiao said that this provision must be amended to allow the use of RTL funds instead to buy rice from farmers at a fair and reasonable price.