AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert Lee (Rep. Lee's office)

AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee said the government must reinforce its rice buffer stock to last for 15 to 30 days in preparation for the arrival of La Niña season.

Lee said the inventory must be equivalent to at least 350,000 metric tons (MT) in case of emergencies or disasters. 

This figure is in line with the optimal level of rice buffer stock as stated in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), as spelled out in Republic Act (RA) No. 11203.

“Pero ayon sa National Food Authority (NFA) kamakailan, may rice inventory ang bansa na aabot lang sa loob ng apat na araw kung magkaroon ng sakuna o emergency. Nakakabahala ito dahil kulang ang reserbang ito,” Lee said in a statement.

(But according to the NFA recently, the country has a rice inventory that will only last for four days if there is a disaster or emergency. This is worrying because this reserve is insufficient.)

According to a June 13 report of the NFA, its palay (unhusked rice) procurement has reached 3.37 million 50-kilo bags. This is equivalent to 168,262 MT.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has said that the La Niña phenomenon is expected to develop around September to November this year.

In order to help the NFA strengthen its capacity to boost the country’s rice inventory by buying local palay, Lee is pushing for the passage of his House Bill (HB) No. 9020, or the Cheaper Rice Act.

Under the bill, the government will be mandated to implement a “price subsidy program” to buy palay from local farmers at a higher farmgate price to ensure their profit and entice them to boost their production.

“Sa panukalang ito, isasabatas ang dagdag o patong na P5 to P10 sa prevailing farmgate price per kilo ng palay na bibilhin ng gobyerno sa mga lokal na magsasaka. Sa mas mataas na kita, magpupursige silang taasan ang produksyon, na magpapababa naman sa presyo ng bigas at iba pang bilihin,” Lee said.

(In this proposal, a hike of P5 to P10 will be enacted on the prevailing farmgate price per kilo of rice that the government will buy from local farmers. With this higher income, they will continue to increase production, which will in turn lower the price of rice and other commodities.)

“Our farmers deserve better prices for their products, so it is only fair that we demand better for them,” he added.