MANILA
– President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to
purchase the palay produce of local
farmers at competitive prices.
In a press conference at the Malacañang Palace on Wednesday evening, President
Duterte said that the government and the farmers should arrive at a compromise
on the price of palay.
“What should the solution be or will be for the secretary of Agriculture to buy
all. Magkano ba presyo nila? Magkano presyo nila, bilhin natin. Lugi? Lugi talaga. Are we
wasting money? No. We are not wasting money. We’re helping an industry. So malugi tayo, eh di malugi,” Duterte said.
“You cannot demand a price. You arrive at a compromise of how much you’re
willing to lose a little bit. Medyo
tapatan lang basta hindi malugi yung pagod nila, they are compensated,” he
added.
President Duterte also asked farmers not to demand for an “unreasonable” price
because Agriculture secretary William Dar “would never go into that kind of arrangement.”
Farmers have recently asked for government intervention as palay prices plunged to as low as P7 per kilo following the
implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law, which Duterte said was “intended
to serve the greater interest of the majority of the people.”
Dar, meanwhile, have suspected hoarding by some traders and millers to be
behind the declining prices of palay
even as he said the government will be strict in implementing sanitary and
phytosanitary measures to “manage” the entry of imported rice.
The Cabinet official also said the Department of Agriculture proposed the
distribution of rice to poor families as an alternative to releasing monthly
cash doles so they could buy the staple food./PN