Govt eyes P3-B cash assistance for farmers

THE government is targeting to provide P3 billion in cash assistance to rice farmers before the year ends, in a bid to aid them from the impact of the low prices of

At the sidelines of the PhilippinesIndia Trade Consultations in Makati City, Agriculture Secretary William Dar told reporters that Cabinet members believe the imposition of safeguard duty on rice imports could have an “inflationary effect,” thus the need to look at other measures to relieve farmers from steep drop in palay prices.

The imposition of a safeguard duty on rice imports was one of the measures the government was banking on, as the main harvest season was forthcoming.

Dar earlier said the Department of Agriculture (DA) will consult the members of the economic team on

decision,” even if he said before the agency would place a general safeguard duty on imported rice by the end of September or early October.

- plained, was targeted to be released to some 600,000 registered rice farmers, at P5,000 each farmer, before the year ends.

“This will be taken from the tariff being collected out of the ‘Rice

- ing [that] this can be given before Christmas,” he said, noting tariff collection has already reached about

billion target for allocation to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program as mandated by Republic Act 11203 or the RTL.

The agriculture chief also said the program is apart from the DA’s P2.5Survival and Recovery Assistance Program (SURE Aid), a one-time loan assistance of P15,000 to small rice farmers at zero-percent interest rate payable for eight years.

“(This is different.) This is real cash assistance. [The] SURE Aid was loan assistance,” Dar said.

and loan assistance are those who are listed in the DA’s Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), a nationwide database of been done when the volume of rice imports reached a level more than what the country needed.

Montemayor added the proposed cash aid is palliative and did not address the root of the problem, reiterating a safeguard duty to limit further rice imports.

“Also, why only 600,000 farmers.?

were also affected.? Third, can they legally touch the tariff proceeds in