The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) asked President and concurrent Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to order Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) to release P1 billion from the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program to rice farmers.
In a statement, FFF said the amount should be able to augment the incomes of 181,000 rice farmers nationwide.
Administered by the Department of Agriculture, the RFFA program extends a P5,000 cash subsidy to rice farmers tilling not more than two hectares to partly compensate for depressed palay prices arising from liberalized importation under the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019.
Based on initial field reports, FFF Chairman Leonardo Q. Montemayor said that - for 2021 alone - Land Bank’s backlog is distributed as follows: Region I (10,000 farmers); II (50,000); III (15,000); IV-B (8,000); VI (80,000); VIII (18,000).
“Land Bank’s inaction is deplorable because it has possessed the requisite funds of about P1 billion for about a year already, and farmers could have used the cash subsidy to help offset high fertilizer and fuel prices for rice production,” Montemayor stressed.
He cited the case of several hundred FFF members in Camiling, Tarlac who received subsidy claim stubs last December 17through the Tarlac provincial agriculture office and are still waiting for their Land Bankidentification cards.
“We have learned further that, in the entire province of Tarlac, this problem is being faced by more than 15,000 farmers – of whom 3,384 are found in Camiling municipality. Our farmers are also at a loss as to when they will get their income support for 2022.” Montemayor said.
The same situation is reportedly obtaining in Pangasinan, Isabela, Cagayan, Mindoro, Iloilo, Guimaras, Leyte and other provinces, Montemayor added.
“In contrast, the RFFA program funds that were allocated to the Development Bank of the Philippines and coursed through local branches of M. Lhuillier or Universal Storefront Services Corporation (USSC) money transfer companies have generally been smoothly disbursed to beneficiary farmers.” he remarked.
Earlier, Montemayor had written Land Bank President Cecilia C. Borromeo, urging her to act expeditiously on the matter. However, Borromeo has yet to respond, Montemayor said.