On top of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and the Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for Rice Farmers (SURE Aid), the Department of Agriculture (DA) continues to seek other ways to lessen the burden of rice farmers.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar, Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Cecilia Borromeo, and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) President and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa jointly launched the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance (RFFA) Program with P3-billion funding.

Starting December 23, 2019, a total of 600,000 rice farmers in 33 rice-producing provinces will each receive cash assistance worth P5,000 under the RFFA. It will be piloted in the provinces of Pangasinan and Nueva Ecija, which are among the top producers of rice in the country.

According to Secretary Dar, the RFFA guidelines were meticulously crafted and targeted to benefit the farmers who are most badly affected by the impacts of the Rice Tariffication Law.

DA Field Operations Service Director and Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Program (RCEP) Coordinator Roy Abaya reported that 36 percent of the P10 billion from RCEF has been obligated for its first year of implementation beginning September 2019.

Director Abaya said that the obligation is expected to increase by the end of the year because of the ongoing procurement process for the mechanization component, which forms 50 percent of the RCEF.

“We expect that after the first quarter of next year, all of the machinery will be awarded and distributed to our farmers,” Director Abaya said.

In terms of the SURE Aid program, Land Bank President Borromeo reported that the bank has covered 60 out of 68 provinces under the program and more than 95,000 rice farmers already received their loan assistance worth P15,000 each.

DBP President Herbosa said that the bank strongly supports the DA and offered to provide financial assistance for infrastructure projects such as farm-to-market roads and irrigation systems that will enable farmer cooperatives and their communities to be more competitive.

The DA through the Agricultural Credit and Policy Council and the Land Bank jointly implement the SURE Aid program wherein rice farmers can avail of a zero-interest and no collateral loan payable in eight years.

The RCEF will be allocated annually for six years in addition to the DA regular fund for the Rice Program. It will be used for rice farm machinery and equipment (50%), rice seed development, propagation, and promotion (30%), expanded rice credit access (10%), and rice extension services (10%).DA-AFID