Former Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary Atty. Arthur C. Yap has proposed a
number of measures to address the current rice crisis in the Philippines.
In a public presentation, Yap said the government should immediately take action to
stabilize rice prices and ensure food security for the country.
One of Yap’s proposals is to implement the rice tariffication law, which would allow
private traders to import rice without restrictions, subject to a tariff rate.
Yap said this would increase competition and lower prices for consumers, while also
generating revenues for the government that could be used to support farmers.
Another proposal is to establish a rice reserve fund that would enable the
government to buy rice from farmers at a fair price during harvest season, and sell it
at a subsidized price during lean season.
Yap said this would stabilize prices and ensure food security for both producers and
consumers.
The former congressman of Bohol Third District also proposed promoting rice
diversification by encouraging farmers to plant other crops such as corn, cassava,
sweet potato, banana, and coconut.
He said this would reduce dependence on rice imports, increase income
opportunities for farmers, and improve nutrition for consumers.
In addition, Yap called for enhancing rice research and development by investing in
new varieties of rice that are more resilient to pests, diseases, droughts, floods, and
salinity.
He said this would improve productivity and quality of rice, as well as mitigate the
effects of climate change.
The former governor of Bohol also stressed the importance of strengthening rice
extension services by “providing farmers with access to information, training, credit,
inputs, equipment, and markets.” He said that this would improve farm management
practices and increase efficiency and profitability of rice farming.
Finally, Yap urged the government to prepare farmers to plant right away, especially
now that they have additional Mandanas-Garcia funds coming into their budgets due
to the Supreme Court ruling on local government shares.
He said that this would maximize the open window immediately after the main
harvest season and boost production for the next cycle.
Yap’s proposals have been welcomed by farmers and other stakeholders in the
agriculture sector.
They said they believe that his measures are necessary to prevent the rice crisis
from getting worse.
The national government has yet to say whether it will adopt Yap’s proposal.
However, the Department of Agriculture has said that it is working on a number of
measures to address the rice crisis.
In the meantime, consumers are advised to be vigilant and to avoid panic buying.
They should also buy rice from legitimate sources to ensure that they are getting
quality products.
In an interview, Yap dismissed the claims that there is a rice crisis in the Philippines,
saying that there are enough stocks in the market and households.
He said that the absence of inventories from the National Food Authority (NFA)
warehouses does not mean that stocks do not exist, as rice is freely traded in the
market and households have their own reserves.
Yap admitted that rice prices have been moving up due to a confluence of factors,
such as the Indian rice export ban, the strong demand from Indonesia and the
Philippines, the string of typhoons in the region, the speculative moves from millers
and traders, and the uncertainties created by the continuing war in Ukraine.
However, he said that these reasons have only made supplies “tight” but not
“absent”.
He said there are still rice imports coming in this month and next month, and that by
the end of September, the main crop harvest of the Philippines will begin to replenish
stocks.
He also pointed out that the 2023-2024 harvest is the largest harvest of exportable
rice surpluses in human history, with more than 530 million metric tons.
Yap said India may have issued an export ban but that also means they are now
facing high domestic costs of keeping these stocks in their warehouses when they
could sell them to the world.
Yap also said that despite the Ukraine war, wheat, flour and corn supplies are also
robust and their prices have started to move down. He said there are other food
staples people can depend on.
Yap urged the government to prepare for the main harvest in the fourth quarter of the
year, and ensure farmers get a good price for their produce.
He said their profitability assures they will continue to plant for the next season.
The former Cabinet member also suggested that government prioritize planting
vegetables and corn in areas where water is scarce due to the projected El Niño.
After serving as Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary, Atty. Yap was the
congressman in the Third District of Bohol for nine years, and governor of Bohol from
2019 to 2022. He is a lawyer by profession and has a master’s degree in agricultural
economics. He is also a Fellow of the Development Academy of the Philippines.