The government has allotted P1 billion fund for farmers under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) program, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) disclosed, Thursday, Feb. 16.
“Katuwang natin ang ACPC (Agricultural Credit Policy Council), ang LandBank, ang Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) para sa mga financing. Under RCEF, may awtomatiko na P1 billion na nilalaan na pondo para sa ating mga magsasaka (We have partnered with the ACPC, the LandBank, and the Development Bank of the Philippines for the financing. Under RCEF, there’s an automatic P1 billion allocated fund for our farmers),” Asec. Arnel V. De Mesa said in a “Laging Handa” briefing.
“Tig-P500 million ang LandBank at DBP po rito, ganoon din naman ang ACPC para sa mga credit programs natin (LandBank and DBP will each provide P500 million for this, and the ACPC will provide as well for our credit programs),” he added.
The RCEF program was established under Republic Act (RA) No. 11203, also known as the Rice Tariffication Law, to improve farmers' competitiveness in the face of rice trade policy liberalization.
As earlier announced by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), De Mesa confirmed that P30 billion has been allocated for the National Rice Program this 2023.
“At ang ating Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund ay mayroong P10 billion at iyong collection natin noong nakaraang taon, dahil sa Rice Tariffication Law, ay umabot hanggang P22 billion ( And our Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund has P10 billion and our collection last year, due to the Rice Tariffication Law, reached P22 billion),” he said.
“So mayroon tayong excess collection na P12 billion na puwede namang gamitin natin base sa Republic Act 11598 bilang rice farmers financial assistance o tig-P5,000 sa bawat magsasaka na nagsasaka nang hindi tataas sa dalawang ektarya (So we have an excess collection of P12 billion that we can use based on Republic Act 11598 as rice farmers financial assistance or P5,000 each to each farmer who farms a land not exceeding two hectares).”
President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, according to the DA official, has ordered to device additional credit and lending programs for farmers.
Earlier, Marcos expressed bullishness that the country would be close to attaining self-sufficiency in rice in two years.