Cynthia Villar insists NFA powers unnecessary amid Palace's 'blocking' claim

Senator Cynthia Villar refuted allegations Tuesday that she is blocking the restoration of the National Food Authority’s power to purchase palay from local farmers, insisting that it is not necessary.

In a statement, Villar, author of the Rice Tariffication Law, explained that while the NFA no longer controls rice imports due to the liberalization of rice import with tariff, it is still mandated to maintain a buffer stock sourced solely from local farmers.

“This means the NFA continues to directly buy palay from domestic producers, especially during harvest seasons, which helps stabilize farmgate prices and offers farmers another market aside from private traders,” Villar said.

Apart from this, Villar noted that the government is supporting farmers and reducing dependency on traditional rice traders through allocating funds for rice processing infrastructure which is also included in the RTL via the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

Villar also enumerated the following reasons “why restoring the NFA’s mandate to stabilize rice prices is not necessary:

• Limited impact on market prices as NFA’s rice distribution program historically had little influence in rice prices
• Inefficiencies in targeting and distribution as NFA has struggled to get rice to the families who need it the most with only 17% poor households benefitted from NFA rice, while nearly 68% were non-poor.
• Importation failures as NFA-led rice importation has also proven ineffective and costly due to delays and lack of transparency
• Mounting debt and losses in 2017 due to its strategy of buying rice from local farmers at high procurement prices and selling it to the public at subsidized rates

Apart from these, Villar also noted that the NFA has incurred costs due to poor inventory management, including rice spoilage, overstocking, and unnecessary storage expenses.

She cited a previous Commission on Audit report which indicated that “rice stocks left to rot due to over-importation and delayed distribution—highlighting not just financial waste but operational incompetence.”

“While the intent to stabilize rice prices and support Filipino farmers is commendable, restoring the National Food Authority's (NFA) previous powers to import and distribute rice is not the most effective or sustainable solution,” Villar said.

“In fact, under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), and its recent amendment through Republic Act No. 12078, mechanisms are already in place to support local farmers, protect consumers, and ensure food security—without repeating the costly and inefficient practices of the past,” she added.

The chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food then mentioned that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has already signed Republic Act 12078 which amended and extended the RTL.

“The new RTL strengthened the regulatory functions of the Department of Agriculture (DA) by authorizing it to require the registration and inspection of all grain warehouses and facilities, re-establishing the DA's ability to stabilize the rice market by purchasing local and imported rice during rice supply shortages or sharp rice price hikes,” Villar said.

It likewise increased the RCEF from P10 billion to P30 billion until 2031 to fund the rice industry support programs which she said are geared towards increasing the competitiveness of the rice sector.

On Monday, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro blamed Villar for the NFA having no power to purchase palay from local farmers.

Castro said it has been the proposal of the administration to give authority to the NFA, however, this provision was not allowed by the senator. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News