The Government initiative to help Filipino farmers, Department of Agriculture

Secretary William Dar said Wednesday that he has proposed the distribution of rice to
Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program 4Ps. Among the substantive amendments he
introduced were the automatic inclusion of families who live in areas without electricity;
lifting of limit on the number of children to qualify for cash grants; continuous impact
assessment of the 4Ps program to be conducted by Philippine Department of Finance and
Agriculture, including verification of the list of beneficiaries.

The Department of Finance and Agriculture is working on the implementation

of an assistance program to help rice farmers suffering from low prices of palay as
a result of the new price regime the initiative was said to have been agreed upon
over the weekend between Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III and
Agriculture Secretary William Dar. In the statement on Sunday, Dar said the
measure entails an unconditional cash assistance that will be allocated and
distributed to affected farmers by expanding the ongoing Survival and Recovery or
what we call SURE program of the DA’s Agricultural Credit Policy Council . The
expansion of SURE to assist rice farmers will also build on the good experience
under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or what we call the 4Ps of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development. The expanded SURE program is
in addition to the programs and projects mandated under the Rice Competitive
Enhancement Fund, the annual P10-billion fund established under the Ra 11203 to
sourced from the Bureau of Custom collection of tariffs on rice imports by private
traders following the enactment of this law. “ This unconditional cash assistance
program is meant to help cushion the initial impact of lower palay prices on our
farmers as they transition to the new rice tariffication regime,” Dominguez said.
“For the long haul, the RCEF facility under RA 11203 will help sharpen the global
competitiveness of our farmers by way of an array of programs providing them
with access to farm machinery and equipment, high yield seeds, cheap credit and
skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques,”
he added. The DoF chief is confident over the full funding of the RCEF as he
expects that tariff revenues from rice imports for this year will likely exceed P10
billion. The annual tariff revenues in excess of P10 billion will enable further
adjustment assistance for rice farmers for the reminder of the Duterte
administration, Dominguez said. Dar, who chairs the ACPC Council, said he will
convence the body at the soonest to get the SURE assistance started immediately.
Following the passage of Republic Act 11203 or Rice Tarrification Law in
February 2019, the average farmgate price of palay has tremendously gone down
to as low as P14 to P12 per kilo in some provinces in the country. The Federation
of Free Farmers earlier said farmers have foregone an estimated P40 billion in
revenue as of the end of june due to the 23 percent decline in palay prices year on
year. The group has also appealed to the DA to immediately impose anti-dumping
duties on imported rice to prevent local and traders from incurring more osses due
to the unimpeded entry of cheap rice imports.
 The solution, however, is not to scrap the program and deprive ourselves of one of
our most potent tools in the fight against intergenerational, rather it is to strengthen the
safeguards of the program and be vigilant in its implementation. We can make passage
for the 4Ps Law. It’s an investment for our less fortunate Filipino, our farmers. We will
expect their lives to be better now that the program is strengthened and safeguards in
place, It addresses the intergenerational nature for all. The 4Ps is a compassionate and
effective social justice measure to lift the Filipinos and our Farmers of the phillipnes who
are belong into 4Ps.