Gov’t grants P5-K cash aid for Pangasinan farmers

FILE: Agriculture Secretary William Dar at Agricultural Training Institute-Rural Development Education Center (ATI-RDEC) building along Elliptical Road, Quezon City on Thursday (Dec. 19, 2019). (PNA photo by Ben Briones).

MANILA – The government has awarded a one-time cash assistance of PHP5,000 each to some 500 farmers in Mangatarem, Pangasinan under the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program (RFFAP).

According to a statement on Monday, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the unconditional cash transfer, which was sourced from rice import tariffs, is available to farmers tilling 0.5 – 2 hectares farmland.

The cash aid shall come in the form of cash cards released by the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Dar said a total of 87,000 rice farmers in Pangasinan will receive Land Bank cash cards, equivalent to PHP435 million.

“Ito po ay tulong pinansyal, hindi pautang kaya di babayaran (We provide financial assistance, not a form of loan, so there is no need to pay back),” he said.

In Pangasinan, a total of 87,000 rice farmers will receive Land Bank cash cards, equivalent to PHP435 million.

According to the agriculture chief, the department will be setting aside PHP3 billion for the first 33 rice-producing provinces and qualified farmers selected based on a comparative price analysis that considered the average marketable surplus and profit gains or losses in those provinces.

RFFAP is one of the interventions to cushion rice farmers during the transition phase of the Rice Tariffication Law.

The law provides for financial assistance for rice farmers to be sourced from the tariff collection of the PHP10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Dar noted that the RCEF aims to make Filipino rice farmers competitive by providing them mechanized facilities, certified rice seeds, credit, and training.

Dar expressed optimism that the cost of production of local rice will be reduced by PHP6 from its PHP12 per kilo level through the RCEF, thus enabling local farmers to compete with Vietnam that currently produces at PHP6 per kilo.