With eleven pesos profit an imported rice
retailer can earn because of the new law on the open importation of the staple, the lives of Filipino palay farmers
deteriorate this year because customers
will shun their product, a pundit cited.
The source, who asked
for anonymity, agreed with the
pronouncement of Samahang Industriya at
Agrikultura(Sinag) Chairman Rosendo So
that the averaged P43 per kilo of rice
produced by more than 2.3 million Filipino farmers will be gobbled by the flood
of imported staple from either Thailand, Vietnam, or India that command an
average priced of P32 per kilo only in local market.
The Sinag chair based his figure on the last week of February this year on the price of the Vietnam rice.
The Sinag chair based his figure on the last week of February this year on the price of the Vietnam rice.
This happened because Republic Act No. 11203 or an Act Liberalizing the Importation,
Exportation, and Trading of Rice, Lifting for the Purpose the Quantitative
Import Restriction on Rice, and for Other Purposes was signed into law by President Rodrigo
Duterte last February 14 this year.
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| (Photo Credit: nordis.net) |
The statute should have to take
effect on March 5 this year but is hampered by the absence of the implementing rules and
regulations (IRR) that will be hammered by the Department of Agriculture and the National Economic Development Authority after they consulted the
agricultural stakeholders on February 26 to March 1.
Rosendo So cited last November that
the production cost of Philippines produced palay is P40 while the imported
cost only P35.
“Live price now na 5% broken U.S$380 per metric ton o 1000 kilos equals
P23 freight, P403 multiplied by U.S $55 divided by 20 multiplied 35 (percent)
tariff. P32 pesos may taripa na. Dalhin
niya sa warehouse sabihin mo P3 o P150 sa 50 kilos per bag,” he told
this writer November last year.
He explained that the
retailer buys the imported rice from the importer for P35 a kilo and sells it
at P38 with a profit of P3.
"The price as of February is more lower than that of November based on the average of P32 per kilo in the world market," he told this writer.
"The price as of February is more lower than that of November based on the average of P32 per kilo in the world market," he told this writer.
He said the average
price of a kilo of the staple produced by Filipinos is P43 as sold by the
retailers.
“Sa local depende iyan sa harvest. Ang presyo P23 more or less ang palay
more or less ang sabi ni Secretary P23
to P46 computation namin puwedi na ang P43,” he explained that Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol wanted
the suggested retail (SRP) price of P46 but Sinag computed that it can be sold
at P43.
The profit of a
retailer he said on the P43 is P3.
When asked if the P38
imported rice can drive away of their livelihood the Filipino farmers, the
Sinag and Abono Partylist chairperson cited that Piñol set the SRP of
the imported at P43.
The source cited that
the suggested retail price is not etched in stone.
“How can
we be assured that retailers will follow that directive? They can sell the imported
rice to the retailers at P38 while the
retailer sells it at P41 a kilo still earning P3 to make it cheaper
versus the local product,” he opined.
Chairman So said the tariffication could annihilate the Filipino farmers unless the government help
them.
“Ya of course. Kung iyong tariffication lahat puwede na
magpapasok,” he
cited when asked by this writer if Republic Act No. 11203 will kill the farmers.
Engineer So however
share the viewpoint of Agriculture Secretary that the P10 billion Rice
Competitiveness Enhancement Fund collected by the government as 35% and 50%
tariffs to the importers among those countries in the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement
(ATIGA) and those outside the
ATIGA, to aide the beleaguered farmers
will make them competitive against farmers in other countries.
Citing
a study made by think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies,
Senator Cynthia Villar, explained the factors adversely affecting Filipino
farmers’ competitiveness were the lack of mechanization, technical know-how,
financial literacy and access to cheap credit.
“So we are going to mechanize. So half, P5
billion of the P10 billion will go to mechanization so that they can compete.
Because that is the highest cost difference, iyong labor. And then P3 billion
will go to seeds. Tuturuan silang maging (They will be taught as) seed growers
ng inbred seeds ng PhilRice. That will increase their harvest from 4 metric
tons to 6 metric tons per hectare,” Villar told the Philippine News Agency.
Villar is the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and was the principal sponsor of Senate Bill 1998, which replaces the quantitative import restrictions on rice with tariffs, and creates the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), or Rice Fund.
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ReplyDeleteCOMMENT OF SINAG PRESIDENT ROSENDO SO
ReplyDeleteThe R.A. 11203 still waiting for IRR , but Last Year NFA have allow to import 1.6m MT or 32M Bags of Rice More than the Minimium Access Volume of 804,200MT or 16M Bag , worse is the import of Other 16M bags did not pay any Amount of Tariff because It was imported By NFA . WITHOUT the Tariffication Law that has been pass yet , we have already imported 555,696 MT January 2019 Alone . That means WITH or WITHOUT the Rice Tariffication Law the Government Is Importing more than the Request import by WTO , So It better to Tariffy All Rice import
Rene Pacolor: We go with the law of comparative advantage Mortz. We will produce goods at our advantage to survive competition. We cannot escape globalization. The Phil is one GATT signatories, so abiding with its precepts are a natural thing for us to do. Gone are the protective policies.
ReplyDeleteNangyayari ito Mortz Kasi we were not able to cushion the impact of liberalization. Kulang ang preparation ng Phil.
Mas maayo cguro padala ta sang damo nga ofw abroad so families have the money to buy rice from Thailand and Vietnam.
MORTZ ORTIGOZA Pero siling ni Agriculture Sec Manny Pinol we should protect our rice farmers kasi iyong Asean countries like Vietnam that export palay to us someday they will lessen if not stop it because of their burgeoning population.
Rene Pacolor: Ang farmers Mortz kung diin sila mag income doon Sila. They won't be motivated to plant rice unless it's a productive venture.
Mortz Ortigoza: Ontoy Fabila, as Man Friday of the Secretary of Agriculture ano mahambal mo di sa article ko, ti pura-ot gid pangabuhi ka farmers sini after ang onslaught ka cheap rice from Vietnam and Thailand that will enter the country without limit?
ReplyDeleteNathanael A Fabila: The Samar rice Development program,, Inbred Rice seed Production and changing the farming technology,,, this social preparation will bring farmers a more acceptable and sustainable experience .. i think prices is just not just within us ,, but we need and must produce more...for our needs so with financial needs,,
Support to inputs of farming need basically were “DA” will take a pie on mitigation,, let others DF, NEDA , DTI think wat to do to lower the inputs cost..