The taxes to be collected from imported rice will fund the “Rice Competitiveness Enchancment Fund” that will benefit Filipino rice farmers with a budget of P10 billion a year through mechanization, seed growing and trainings, said Sen. Cynthia Villar.
“That rice tarification bubuwisan yung imported rice para protectahan ang small farmers and ang buwis na makukuha doon ay ilalagay sa tinatawag na rice competitiveness enhancement fund ibibigay po ang 10 billion a year to the rice farmer including ngayong 2019,” Villar explained.
“Para i-mechanize ang ating rice farming P5 billion and then turuan sila maggawa ng seeds maging seed growers can increase their harvest by 50% or 3 billion, magbibigay pa po ng P1 billion sa LandBank and DBP para pautang ng mura para sa ating mga farmers and other billion to ATI (Agricultural Training Institute) and TESDA to finance the training of farmers for mechanization and seed growing, kaya ung 10 billion a year po nasa national budget natin yun and it will be given to the farmers every year para improve ang kanilang competitiveness sa imported rice,” she added.
Villar is also encouraging our coconut farmers to process their crops and do an intercropping due to low value of raw coconut in the market. She also shared when she was in Germany she saw coconut products such as coco sugar and coco water but these are sold by our neighboring countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Yung presyo ng coconut hindi natin ma cocontrol yan. World market yan; law of supply and demand so ngayon sinasabi naming sa mga coconut farmers hindi kayo pwede aasasa na bebenta ung coconut nyo as coconut raw pwede naman kayong mag processing kasi po ang pinakasikat na producto ngayon sa mundo is the coco sugar and coco water. Ako nagpunta sa Germany craze na craze yan pero wala akong nakitang product po na coming from the Philippines lahat Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam. So we should start processing. Pagmura ang mga coconut edi iprocess pagbinili in another form… and we should do intercropping cacoa and coffee mas malaki pa kikitain mo sa cacao and coffee kesa sa coconut hindi na po modern ang mono cropping kelangan nag-intercropping,” Villar explained.
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