CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) has urged Congress to “act with urgency” on the rice crisis by scrapping the rice liberalization law it created.
The KMP said that despite government measures to curb the crisis, palay prices have remained at P10 to P12 per kilo and in some areas even as low as P7 to P9 per kilo.
“The only way out of this mess that the government created is to suspend and eventually repeal Republic Act 11203. If this situation of low palay prices persists, a worsening food and economic crisis will be imminent. Mismong ang mga magsasaka na nagtatanim ng palay at pagkain ang magugutom ng husto,” KMP chair Rafael Mariano said in a statement yesterday.
Mariano warned that “the economic situation of farmers can’t be saved or remedied by mere palliatives and band-aid solutions.”
“If legislators and senators still have a sense of accountability toward farmers, they must hear out and consider the demand of farmers,” Mariano stressed.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) issued recently Special Order 862 forming a 30-man task force to address the declining prices of unhusked rice and facilitate assistance relative to the drop of palay farm-gate price.
KMP reported that “palay prices have sunk into a seven-year low as of mid-September just before the start of the second cropping harvest season” as it cited conservative government estimates that palay farmgate prices now average at P16.18 per kilo or a 31 percent drop from the previous P23 per kilo.
“Palay prices are nowhere near recovery. The actual prevailing palay prices according to farmers are still pegged at P10 to P12 for clean and dry. Palay prices are even lower in other areas — in Camarines Sur, palay is bought at P10 to P12 per kilo, in Sorsogon its P7 to P11 per kilo. In San Mateo in Isabela, newly-harvest palay is at P12.50 per kilo and P12 per kilo in Bukidnon,” said Mariano.
He noted that in Iloilo, palay prices even dropped to as low as P9 per kilo a few days ago.
“We are not at all pleased with the solutions presented by the DA and Secretary William Dar. The DA is currently in a chaotic state as it continues to come up with solutions that counter the provisions of RA 11203. The only logical step at this point is to decisively stop the rice importation policy and work toward genuine farmer-led rice industry development. This responsibility and accountability on the palay price crisis fall into the hands of President Duterte. He must have the political will to reverse the rice importation policies that only benefit the rice cartel, big rice traders and corrupt personalities within the bureaucracy,” said peasant leader Danilo Ramos.
Farmers have geared for more protests and mass actions this month to demand the junking of rice liberalization law and genuine solutions to problems besetting the local agriculture and farming sector.
Peasant organizations have started petition signing, town-level assemblies and lobbying activities that will culminate in a massive, nationally-coordinated protest action on October 21. Farmer-led camp-outs will also take place starting October 16 which is declared as World Food Day.
