The national government must intervene and put measures in place to allow the National Food Authority (NFA) to release its overstocked buffer rice, unload its warehouses, and bring down the prices of rice in the market, former senator and senatorial candidate Kiko Pangilinan said on Thursday, March 27.
A former food security czar, Pangilinan assured farmers in Occidental Mindoro that he also plans to talk with Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to share with him the farmers’ grievances with their rice surplus.
“Ito dapat talagang mahanapan ng solusyon, and I think it’s up to the national level now. Dalhin sa national level, sa secretary ng DA at chairman of the board ng NFA, at hanapan ng immediate na intervention para maayos itong problemang ito,” he stressed, lamenting that the NFA warehouse in Occidental Mindoro has “old” rice stock dating back to 2023.
“Well, wag tayong manghinaan ng loob, hahanapan dapat ng solusyon yan. Kalma-kalma lang,” he said in a message to farmers who have nowhere to put their rice surplus this harvest season because the NFA warehouse already reached its full storage capacity.
Pangilinan, the principal author of the Sagip Saka Act that now allows local government units (LGUs) to directly purchase rice and other produce from farmers, explained that the NFA cannot unload its rice stocks because of the restrictions imposed on the agency by the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).
But with the DA’s declaration of food security emergency on rice last month, the former senator emphasized the need for an “immediate action” to allow the NFA to release its stocks.
“Sinasabi natin dahil meron naman emergency situation, food crisis, dapat agaran action ang maaaring masagawa ng NFA para ma-unload dahil right now, punong puno na ang kanilang mga warehouse,” he said.
“Anihan ngayon, hindi na rin nila, ang farmers hindi na rin malaman, at ang NFA, saan dadalhin itong oversupply o dagdag na supply,” he added.
As a former food security secretary, Pangilinan stated that there should be a measure to allow the NFA to release its current stocks to the market when there is a food crisis declaration.
He also said that the NFA should be allowed to tap into the calamity fund for the purchase of rice under the emergency declaration.
If he wins a Senate seat in the upcoming May 2025 midterm elections, the former senator vowed to look into and possibly amend the Rice Tariffication Law.