EMBARKING ON MISSIONS. The Bohol governor embarks on food and shelter missions for Boholano farmers and typhoon victims. In photo 1, Gov Arthur Yap (left) is engaging in a conversation with Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) president Emmanuel Herbosa (right). Yap finalized the P400 million financing for Bayanihan Multipurpose Cooperative. The said cooperative will be buying palay at P21 per kilo from Boholano farmers and market the rice under the Bugas ni Dagohoy brand for P40 to P50 per kilo. In photo 2, the Bohol governor (left) is with business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan (right) where the former is able to convince the latter to help Bohol’s corn, cacao and coffee farmers, aside from getting a pledge of P10 million to help typhoon victims who lost their homes due to the typhoon. The meetings were done on Mar. 7, 2022. Photo courtesy of PRIMER
by Ven rebo Arigo
Gov. Arthur Yap and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Pres. Emmanuel Herbosa on Monday, Mar. 7, 2022, finalized a P400 million financing that benefits the rice farmers.
The financing involves a credit line to the farmer-led Bayanihan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BMPC) to enable the group to buy palay directly from the rice producers at what the governor called a “historic price” of P21 per kilo.
However, on social media this week, some rabid partisan critics started with their activity of spreading lies, including an entirely false, wrong and deceptive post saying the DBP credit line is another loan of the Capitol and that the province will “sink” and “die” in debt.
Yap merely helped and ensured that the Bohol farmers’ cooperative can access and avail themselves of the needed financing.
With the capital, rice producers get a ready market eying to purchase at least 300,000 cavans of rice produced from both inbred and hybrid rice varieties.
The BMPC will, in turn, mill and sell the rice under the “Bugas ni Dagohoy” brand.
Bugas ni Dagohoy is a quality commercial Bohol rice brand being sold at P45 to P50 per kilo.
The rice producing and marketing sector is excited about the financing agreement to be ultimately sealed on Mar. 17, 2022.
Yap met with Herbosa in Manila on the final arrangement of the credit line to the BMPC for P400 million. The credit line enables the cooperative to procure palay, clean and dry, from the farmers at P21 per kilo starting this coming main harvest season.
In a separate meeting, Yap and business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan discussed possible ventures to assist Bohol farmers of corn, cacao and coffee.
There are ready buyers of the value-added products, a report says.
Moreover, the governor secured a P10 million commitment from Pangilinan and his group of companies to assist Yap’s shelter program for the victims of the devastating typhoon which hit Bohol days before Christmas.
SURE MARKET FOR RICE
Yap said the financing to be given to the BMPC will assure the farmers under the Advanced Rice Technology (ART) 160 hybrid rice program of a ready buyer of their palay at a very good price.
A flagship food production enhancement program of Yap’s administration with Vice Gov. Rene Repampagos, the ART 160 targets a yield of 160 cavans of hybrid rice per hectare.
It is complemented by the ART 120 Program which aims to help farmers to produce 120 cavans of inbred rice for every hectare.
OIC Provincial Agriculturist Larry Pamugas said the main base of the BMPC is in Talibon.
In the said town, one ART 160 farmer reportedly harvested more than 220 cavans of hybrid rice per hectare, according to Pamugas.
Two other farmer cooperatives will get credit support from DBP to market the rice produced by Bohol farmers, the governor said.
Yap himself packaged his ART 160 and 120 initiatives with a buy-back component, which allows the provincial government to buy a portion of the farmers’ rice yield under the twin programs and sell the rice under the “Bugas ni Dagohoy” label.
Yap said with the BMPC taking over the buy back program, the provincial government and Department of Agriculture (DA) can now focus their funds for farm input support to the rice farmers.
It is reported that BMPC is ready to purchase 5,000 hectares worth of rice produced in 12 local government unit (LGU) where the ART 160 is being implemented.
“This is the biggest guaranteed procurement program for local rice in the province at a palay price of P21 per kilo. We really want to come out with a garantisado bayente-uno program,” said the governor whose governance mantra is “buhat ang pasultihon (action does the talking).”
The provincial government also invested, without getting any loan, on hybrid rice seeds for the farmers, aside from technical and other forms of support, a report adds.
The DA helped in providing some farm inputs like fertilizer, which prices can be affected by the economic impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a report mentions.
Higher prices of farm inputs affect productivity and could lead to less production which in turn results to rice importation, Yap hinted.
The governor said, “We must protect the selling price of our farmers. At only P14 of palay per kilo, the selling capacity of our farmers will collapse. The DBP credit line to buy at a higher cost of P21 per kilo means a lot to them.”
IT IS NOT A GOVERNMENT LOAN
The credit line provided to the BMPC, is not a loan obtained by the provincial government, Yap said as he challenged his politically-charged critics to “show me papers that the government is [the one] borrowing.”
The false, deceptive claims that the cooperative credit line is a provincial government loan were spread through the social media via posts of critics such as Willy Ramasola, a habitual fake news peddler and propagandist of Rep. Aris Aumentado, and Jagna councilor Anthony Aniscal who is also identified with the camp of Yap’s gubernatorial opponent.
Aumentado is Yap’s contender for the gubernatorial post in the coming May polls.
It is up to the BMPC whether or not to use the credit line and the financing is limited by what the DBP is willing to lend, a report quips.
Lies and pure intrigues about the province “already sunken in deep loan of P2 billion” have also been peddled by critics, a report adds.
The P2 billion being pointed out by critics is the credit facility offered by a bank to the provincial government through which any interested LGUs can get a loan to finance their respective water supply development projects.
The P2 billion credit facility has not been used or accessed by LGUs, reports mention.