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NFA rice buffer stocks should only be available in selected areas—Hontiveros
Philippines
National
NFA rice buffer stocks should only be available in selected areas—Hontiveros
NFA rice buffer stocks should only be available in selected areas—Hontiveros
Published Apr 26, 2023 06:55 am
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, April 26 has found it unnecessary for the government to raise rice buffer stocks in National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses in preparation for the El Niño or the prolonged dry weather season that is expected to develop early in May.
Hontiveros said it would be better for the government to go directly to local rice producers.
“Kaya kung dadagdagan man ang bigas sa warehouses ng National Food Authority, mas mabuting sa lokal na producers (So, if there is a need to increase rice stocks in the warehouses of the NFA, it is better to tap local producers),” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“Tama ang NEDA na dapat para lang sa mga piling lokalidad ang prepositioning ng NFA rice stocks — yung mga isolated at maaaring makaranas ng shortage at pagsirit ng presyo (The National Economic Development Authority is right that the prepositioning of NFA rice stocks should only be for selected localities — those that are isolated and may experience shortages and price spikes),” she pointed out.
Hontiveros said government should avoid a repeat of the massacre that happened in Kidapawan City in 2016, where thousands of farmers and their supporters blockaded the Davao-Cotabato Road and protested before the NFA office in Kidapawan City to air their grievances.
The demonstration ended violently with three deaths on the side of protesters and a total of 116 injured on both sides after police tried to disperse the mass action.
During that time, protesters condemned the non-distribution of NFA rice stocks despite the declaration of a state of calamity by the local government unit (LGU) that is reeling from the drought caused by the El Niño.
“Maybe the economic managers should more rigorously justify why raising the stock of rice in NFA warehouses makes more sense than other programs that could protect families that might experience loss of livelihoods and hunger,” Hontiveros pointed out.
“Dapat munang siguraduhin na may nakalaang ayuda sa mga mahihirap nating kababayan. Noong El Niño ng 2016, maraming laman ang mga warehouses ng NFA, pero ang problema ay walang pambili ang mga mahihirap. (We must first make sure that there is dedicated aid for our poor countrymen. During the El Niño of 2016, the NFA warehouses were full, but the problem was that the poor had nothing to buy),” she said.
“Hindi na dapat maulit ang nangyaring karahasan sa Kidapawan dahil ayaw buksan para sa mga nagugutom ang warehouses (The violence that happened in Kidapawan should not be repeated because the warehouses do not want to be opened for the hungry),” added the lawmaker.
Moreover, Hontiveros cited reports that sanitary and phytosanitary clearances have already been issued for more than three (3) million metric tons of rice to be imported by the private sector and nearly one-third of this has already arrived.
“Sapat yan para punan ang inaasahang kakulangan sa lokal na produksyon (That is enough to fill the expected shortfall in local production),” she said.
“Likewise, we know that the price of fertilizers has already gone down dramatically and the budgets for inputs and irrigation for the rice sector have been more than doubled for this year,” the lawmaker also recalled.
“Sapat dapat ito para makapaghanda ng masaganang ani dahil sa dulo pa naman ng taon tatama ang El Nino (This should be enough to prepare a rich harvest because El Nino will hit at the end of the year),” she pointed out.