Senate bets tackle agri policy reforms

WITH the country facing hunger and food security issues, four senatorial candidates pushed for reforms in agriculture policy to revive the once-dominant sector.

In a Townhall conducted by The Manila Times and DZRH, Norberto Gonzales, Danilo Ramos, Roberto Ballon and Raul Lambino said certain agricultural policy directions were preventing farmers and fisherfolk from improving their lot.

Gonzales, a former Defense chief and former national security adviser, said the government's importation policies should be revised to enable the country to attain its goal of food self-sufficiency.

"What is difficult for us now, we relied on others. It seems that our government's priority is all about importation. It seems that our experience, for our people, to have self-sufficiency, strategic crops for example, like rice, is being ignored," Nograles said.

"Why do we import? Well, based on the study during my time, we can be self-sufficient.... But now, the onions and garlic are all imported, and the price is so expensive. So I think we should change our importation policy. We should pursue self-sufficiency," he added.

Ramos, a longtime advocate of agrarian reform and farmers' rights, denounced the government for embracing neoliberal economic policies and for its continued neglect of the agricultural sector.

He said that several laws make things worse for farmers, such as the Rice Tariffication Law (Republic Act 11203), which he said led to P500 billion in agricultural losses in 2019.

RA 11203, which liberalized rice importation, exportation, and trading and lifted tariffs, itself amended RA 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, which was meant to make the country compliant with commitments to the World Trade Organization.

"The Rice Tariffication Law should be repealed, including its amendments last December 2024.... The power of the NFA (National Food Authority) should be restored to buy rice directly from the farmers so they can sell their rice. The response is not Kadiwa; it is not a food security emergency," said Ramos, who is chairman of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

To help farmers, Ramos said the government must "implement genuine land reform and provide "significant government subsidies for farmers."

"In addition, compensation is also needed for the victims of the disaster. What's worse is that in 2024, the fund for agriculture was P221 billion, but now it's only P211.3 billion. It was reduced; that's why what the government is doing now is palliatives and bandage solutions," Ramos said.

The government "should buy the rice directly from the farmers so that they can sell it at a cheaper price. P25 per kilo (of rice) is possible," he added.

Ballon, a fisherman and a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for environmental conservation and community development, said there was a need to strengthen the production of the agriculture sector to achieve food security.

Like Ramos, Ballon also expressed support for farm subsidies to boost production.

Ballon raised the issue of commercial fishers encroaching on municipal waters, which he said were reserved for artisanal fishers.

"That's the problem; the law is not being implemented properly to support our farmers and fishermen," he said.

"That's why we have a problem with food. Because poverty is still rampant, people have no money, have no income because there is nothing to earn. So the first problem is there is no food. So it's really a food crisis," he said.

Lambino, a senatorial aspirant under Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan, said that an "over-centralized governance" must be changed to ensure food security.

"The big problem with food security is (it is) rooted in centralized governance. ... For more than a hundred years, the agency or department or Department of Agriculture has been in charge of agriculture," Lambino said.

He called for decentralizing the power of the DA and distributing its other functions to local government units (LGUs), because "they can easily monitor whether they are doing the right thing or not."

"But what happened is that the Department of Agriculture refuses to let go of that power. But if we examine the Local Government Code, it is stated there that agriculture should be decentralized to the LGUs. Why has the national government revoked that? Because the leaders and officials of the Department of Agriculture will make a lot of money if they still hold that power," Lambino said.

Food self-sufficiency and security will be achieved not through importation but through a local government-led mandate, he said.

"What's happening is that 60 percent of our food is imported. Let's talk about beef; 95 percent of our beef consumption is imported, then 99 percent of our milk consumption is imported. Corn is also imported, vegetables are imported, garlic is imported, everything is imported, even fish sauce is imported. Is that the policy we want to continue?" Lambino said.

"It's been more than 100 years. That's why I said this is a structural governance defect. The government's policy on agriculture is over-centralized."

Food security has been one of the key promises of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a candidate in 2022.

In his inaugural address, Marcos said his administration would give food security "preferential treatment."

On Friday, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the president was looking at the most effective solutions to the challenge of food security.

During a sectoral meeting in Malacañang last month, Marcos sought a "unified" approach to stabilizing food prices, as well as new policies to shield consumers from market volatility.

Marcos and the implementing agencies of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act also discussed reducing smuggling and stabilizing the prices of food products.

In February, the Department of Agriculture declared a food security emergency for rice to address the "extraordinary" increases in the staple's retail price.

On Wednesday, the DA announced a reduction in the maximum suggested retail price of 5-percent broken imported rice to P49 per kilo starting March 1.

The MSRP was earlier set at P52 per kilo, down from P55 per kilo on Feb. 15.