Rice farmers tilling farmland of two hectares and below received P5,000 each last week as financial assistance from the government for the second straight year pursuant to the Rice Tarrification Law or Republic Act 11203.
In the initial distribution of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-Rice Farmers’ Financial Assistance (RCEF-RFFA) in Catanduanes this 2022, 653 rice farmers from the capital town of Virac trooped to the Catanduanes State University covered court where personnel from the Department of Agriculture (DA) regional office, assisted by staff of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAg), handed over the cash assistance last Oct. 11, 2022.
A total of 1,880 were scheduled to be served at the venue that day, with the others coming from Bato (585 rice farmers), San Miguel (228), and San Andres (414).
In the following days, the team went around the island to turn over the RCEF-RFFA to the rest of the 5,714 qualified beneficiaries in the other seven towns: 358 in Bagamanoc, 446 in Baras, 287 in Caramoran, 327 in Gigmoto, 530 in Pandan, 594 in Panganiban and 1,292 in Viga.
Records of the agriculture officer show that there are a total of 7,792 rice farmers in Catanduanes, with 6,774 of them growing the staple food in farmlands of one hectare and below in area.
Last December 2021, 5,605 of them received the P5,000 assistance under the same program.
Governor Joseph Cua and the two congressmen from Catanduanes – TGP Partylist Rep. Jose Teves Jr. and Rep. Eulogio Rodriguez – graced the activity, with DA Regional Executive Director Rodel Tornilla joining in virtually.
In his message, Dir. Tornilla said the assistance that will be given until 2024 is funded by P10 billion expected to be collected in six years from excess tariff revenues from rice imports.
“Daculang tabang ini sa mga paraoma,” he stated, referring to the P28 million total direct cash assistance being released to local farmers in Catanduanes,
Aside from the RFFA, he added that DA Bicol has distributed other interventions like seeds, fertilizer discount vouchers, biologics and others for growers of High Value Commercial Crops and animal raisers.
The distribution of the assistance is timely as Oct. 16 is World Food Day, during which the DA celebrates farmers as food heroes in the government’s campaign to achieve food security.
TGP Rep. Teves, who is now deputy majority leader after serving as vice chairman of the House agriculture committee in his previous term, reiterated his strong support for local farmers.
He disclosed in the recent budget hearing for the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA), he was utterly disappointed to learn that of the agency’s proposed P300 million budget for 2023, only P23 million has been allotted for Catanduanes.
“Napakababa nito para sa number one producer ng abaca hindi lang sa Pilipinas kundi sa buong mundo,” he told the farmers.
Teves urged farmers to plant more abaca due to the current high dollar-peso exchange rate and thus contribute to abaca’s export revenues.
He recalled that last month he successfully pressured PhilFIDA to release the almost P70 million in funds for abaca rehabilitation efforts in Catanduanes, on top of the garden tools and fertilizers distributed to schools under the Gulayan sa Paaralan program.
On the other hand, Cong. Rodriguez lauded the DA for the cash assistance which he said would soften the effect of rice imports on the marketability of local rice.
He disclosed that he has filed a bill which if approved would grant retirement benefits to elderly farmers in recognition for their efforts to put food on every Filipino’s table.
Gov. Cua, for his part, lamented that the lack of farming areas limits the productivity of rice farmers in Catanduanes, which he said is 70 percent mountainous.
He proposed that farm-to-market roads be constructed by the provincial government to arable land and abaca plantations in the mountains where upland palay and vegetables can be grown to supplement supply from the mainland and Benguet. The roads could be used by topdown tricycles and motorcycles.
The one-land gravel roads will be constructed by administration using the recently procured heavy equipment of the province beginning in 2023 in Caramoran and will be maintained on a year-round basis.