P20 per kilo rice hard to attain at this time —Pangilinan

The campaign promise of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to bring down the cost of rice is hard to achieve at this time considering the lack of budgetary support to the agriculture sector, outgoing Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Tuesday.

“Given the whole setup mahihirapan…Sila na mismo ang nagsasabi na hindi pa kaya sa ngayon (Given the whole setup today, it is difficult to achieve. They have already admitted that it is hard to attain right now) because if you wanna bring down the price of rice to P20 then you have to bring down the cost of production of rice,” Pangilinan said in an ANC interview.

Last week, incoming Agrarian Reform secretary Conrado Estrella III said Marcos’ promise of P20 per kilogram is difficult to achieve at this time given the high cost of fuel and fertilizers.

Pangilinan, whose 2022 vice presidential bid centered on his advocacy on food security, explained that the cost of irrigation, transportation, among other things, should be addressed if the government would push for the P20 per kilogram of rice.

“You have to address, what are the reasons why mataas ang [cost ng] production. Halimbawa, irrigation. Pangalawa, ‘yung wastage, transport, and of course, the quality of seeds… So it’s not as simple as bringing it down per se because you really have to increase your budgetary support and increase the productivity of your farmers,” he said.

(You have to address the reasons why the cost of production is high. For example, the cost of irrigation, the wastage, the transport, and of course the quality of seeds.)

He emphasized the need for additional support to farmers in terms of pesticides, fertilizers, access to the market, and milling, among others.

“Sa atin (for us), doubling the agriculture budget with the end and view of improving production and incomes of our farmers and fisherfolk is the way to go,” he added.

Pangilinan pointed out that over the years, the agriculture sector in the country, including the cost of irrigation, was only allotted a measly amount of funds compared to Vietnam and Thailand’s government support to the food production sector.

However, he also noted that the budgetary increase in the Department of Agriculture’s budget was blocked due to low absorptive capacity of the agency which also leads to the wastage of government funds.

Further, Pangilinan said the Marcos administration must provide funding to his promises specifically in the agriculture industry to ensure that there is key support for fishers and farmers for capacity building.

“For any administration for that matter, is to put your money where your mouth is,” Pangilinan said when asked what he would want to see for the agriculture sector under the Marcos presidency.

Aside from this, Pangilinan also highlighted the need for a whole-of-nation approach where the private sector is also mobilized while the bureaucracy in the DA is being addressed so fisherfolk and farmers could get direct support to increase their productivity.

Recently, outgoing Agriculture Secretary William Dar said bringing the retail price of rice to as low as P20 per kilo could be realized, but it would be a huge challenge to accomplish.

“We can realize this target,” Dar said during the Laging Handa briefing last Thursday.

However, he said there are “challenges” that need to be addressed in order to bring down the price of rice to the promised level.

During the presidential campaign,  Marcos  said he would recommend a price cap on rice to bring down the prices to as low as P20 per kilogram.

Marcos had said that his campaign promise of reducing the price of rice to as low as P20 per kilo is an aspiration, noting that there is a need to fix the value chain to attain that.

The value chain is the series of stages involved in producing a product or service that is sold to consumers, with each state adding to the value of the product or service.—AOL, GMA News