KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 14 June) – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. led Wednesday the launching of South Cotabato’s rice production and modernization program, but kept silent on his campaign promise to bring down the price of the nation’s staple food to P20 per kilogram.
Spending less than an hour in nearby Banga town with farmers and other stakeholders, Marcos, who is also the Agriculture Secretary, pushed the mechanization of rice farming in line with the administration’s efforts to achieve food security in the country.
He said the administration has been working to lower the price of rice and increase the volume of production, and mechanization is the key to achieving these goals.
“Ginawa nating prayoridad at kailangan tiyakin natin na unang-una, magkaroon ng sapat na food supply. May sapat na pagkain para ating mga kababayan (Food security is our priority. We want to ensure there would be enough food for our countrymen),” Marcos said in a speech aired live on social media by Radio Television Malacañang.
Stressing that the Philippines is a rice-eating country, he said there is a need to make the price of rice cheaper, but stopped short from discussing his campaign promise to make rice available to Filipino consumers at P20/kg.
“Wala din bibili kung P60 ang kilo ng bigas, kailangan ibaba din ang presyo,” he said.
Marcos said his administration “is continuously working to lower the price of rice and at the same time increase the income of Filipino farmers through better yield.”
At the Kadiwa ng Pangulo trade fair in this city where the President and his party proceeded, well-milled rice from the state-owned National Food Authority was sold at P25/kg.
In the different markets in the province, premium rice sold by private traders fetches about P40/kg.
Marcos visited South Cotabato to launch the Consolidated Rice Production and Mechanization Program (CRPMP) of the provincial government, his first time in official capacity since assuming power a year ago.
He turned over a ceremonial check worth at least P115 million for the facility, which he hailed “as a model agricultural initiative of a local government unit in the country.”
The consolidation and mechanization of rice farming, he said, can reduce by half the production and labor costs incurred by farmers, which could increase their income aside from the proceeds of an improved yield.
If the Philippines will have to compete with Thailand and Vietnam in rice production, Marcos stressed that mechanization “is the answer.”
The President said that the two neighboring rice-exporting nations have been able to maximize their production because of mechanization.
For the Philippines, mechanization will work for the rice sector if small farmers adopt the concept of consolidating their farms, he added.
South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said they conceptualized the CRPMP to increase rice production, ensure food production in the area, and improve farmers’ income while making rice affordable to consumers.
“So far, 100 hectares of consolidated farms have already been planted with palay,” Tamayo said, adding that the provincial government is targeting to consolidate at least 1,400 hectares in the different parts of the province under the CRPMP program.
He said the facility will serve as a “one-stop” shop for the pre- and post-harvest needs of rice farmers and concerned government agencies.
The 1.4-hectare agricultural facility in Barangay Liwanay will house an integrated rice processing center, warehouse, motor pool and administration building, including payment center for farmers, among others, the governor said.
He said the provincial government’s rice mechanization program is anchored on the national government’s food security outlook, including alleviating palay farmers from poverty.
Tamayo is president of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the political party that carried Marcos during the May 2022 elections.
Marcos also graced the universal health and jobs fair activities in this city after launching the rice modernization program in Banga town. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews)
