Go to agencies: Protect small farmers from abusive traders

Sen. Bong Go has called on government agencies to protect the welfare of small farmers and go after abusive traders as he emphasized the importance of the agriculture sector and its contributions to economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his manifestation during the public hearing of the committee on agriculture last Thursday, he manifested his support for the overhauling of the country’s rice importation system.

“In times of crisis and in this pandemic, our farmers serve as partners of every Filipino family. As the country’s food providers, it is but fitting to provide an effective mechanism to protect their interests,” Go said in Filipino.

He also pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic and erring rice traders and importers who take advantage of the crisis continue to burden Filipino farmers.

Go noted that despite the passage of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, which removed the quantitative restrictions on rice importation, there is still a need for government to be more proactive in protecting the welfare of small farmers.

He promised during an earlier committee hearing on the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to look into the alleged rice smuggling by a cooperative in Tarlac. The Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) gave assurance to hold responsible the rice smugglers.

The senator also noted an NBI report that said the cooperative was able to release rice imports despite the suspension of its sanitary import clearance.

It was agreed during the hearing that the importation of rice will be prohibited during harvest season to protect the local rice industry and the farmers. The committee noted that only transport cooperatives are allowed to import items, products and raw materials for production and operations.

Ending his statement, Go urged the DA and its attached agencies to safeguard rice farming and continue to uplift the lives of Filipino farmers.

He also urged farmers to report anomalies as he vowed to act on these with the help of President Duterte.