Three bills on agri cited among President's accomplishments, senator expresses appreciation

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Cynthia Villar is thankful that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 26, lauded the passage of three very important legislations in agriculture which she authored among his accomplishments during his term from 2016 to 2020.

“In behalf of the farmers and fisherfolks, I thank President Duterte for his support in the development of the country’s agricultural sector and for the promotion of food security,” said Villar who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food. 

R.A. 10969, which was passed on November 20, 2017, exempts all farmers with landholdings of eight hectares and below from paying irrigation service fees (ISF). Free irrigation is a campaign promise of President Duterte. 

The law also provided for the condonation of unpaid loans and fees, incentives were also provided to the beneficiaries such as the cost of maintenance and operations for the proper distribution of water to the irrigable areas. The free irrigation service is a breakthrough and is a big help in increasing the productivity of the farmer-irrigators.

R.A. No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act is aimed at developing the coconut industry using recovered coco levy assets. This would benefit the country’s 3.5 million coconut farmers from 68 coconut-producing provinces, who own at most five hectares for the last 10 years. The law seeks to create a trust fund for these farmers through the selling of assets procured through the coco levy fund. 

“The coconut farmers are the poorest in the country. They earn only about P1,500 a month. The trust fund will be used for programs, in addition to the programs of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) which will be given a separate budget,” Villa said.  

The use of the funds will be for planting, replanting, intercropping, processing, marketing, formation of cooperatives, crop insurance, credit, health, education, TESDA training and infrastructure.

It also mandates the Bureau of Treasury (BTr) to infuse P10 billion into the trust fund in the first year of its implementation. Another P10 billion will be transferred in the second year; P15 billion in the third year; P15 billion in the fourth year; and P25 billion during the fifth year.

The government started collecting the coco levy funds from coconut farmers in 1971 through levies, taxes, charges and other fees imposed with the sale of copra rececada. Aside from coconut farmers, the funds were collected from millers, refiners, processors, exporters and copra end-users.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the coco levy funds were publicly owned, prompting the government to craft ways on how to develop the coconut industry using the multi-billion assets.

In his final SONA, President Duterte said, “We fulfilled our promise to coconut farmers. We returned the coconut levy fund to its rightful owners—the coconut farmers,"

"The fund is estimated to be at P75 billion for the benefit of the farmers and the development of coconut industry," Duterte added. In addition, the other assets will be sold to add to the fund.

The PCA Board has been reconstituted and strengthened to ensure the participation of coconut farmers in the crafting and implementation of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan. It will include three farmer representatives from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

R.A. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law lifted the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice. To protect local farmers, it imposed tariffs on imported rice and the revenues collected created the Rice Competitiveness and Enhancement Fund (RCEF) that will make the rice industry more competitive.

It took effect in March 2019 and will continue for 6 years. It mandated the allocation of P10 billion annually to be implemented by specific Agencies under the Department of Agriculture. These are as follows: PhilMech P5 billion, to finance mechanization, PhilRice, P3 billion for inbred rice seeds distribution and development, P1 billion for loans jointly shared by Landbank and the Development Bank of the Philippines and training to farmers, P700 million to TESDA, P100 million each to the Agricultural Training Institute, PhilMech and PhilRice. 

The law aims to make local farmers competitive by lowering production cost and increasing yield per hectare of palay. It targets to lower domestic rice prices and make it affordable to the public. 

According to Villar, “The distribution of benefits under the RCEF program has been in full swing for two years now. Rice farmers should harvest at least six metric tons per hectare instead of four before and average production costs per kilogram have been reduced which means bigger income for them.”

Farmers have to organize themselves into cooperatives or associations to obtain the benefit and to be registered in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).

Villar is optimistic that the strides that these pieces of landmark legislation will pave the way to a more vibrant agriculture sector in the years ahead.