Sotto urges government to study buying 50% of farmers' output at their price

Sotto urges government to study buying 50% of farmers' output at their price

During the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress, Senate Minority Leader Vicente "Tito" Sotto III urged the Senate Committee on Agriculture to study the possibility of the government purchasing 50% of all farmers' output at their price.

"May I suggest the Committee on Agriculture study the possibility of the government buying 50% of the output of all farmers at their price. Please make a study to that effect," Sotto said during the interpellation on issues surrounding rice production and farmers' welfare. "Because based on the study that was presented many years ago, it will help everyone. And the food prices might even go down."

Sotto cited the example of Davao del Norte, where Governor Edwin Jubahib has already implemented a successful version of the idea. "There is a successful experimental project to that effect that has been done by the Davao del Norte. The governor of Davao del Norte, Governor Jubahib, has been doing this for about two years already and it's been successful," he said.

He emphasized the role of local governments. "LGUs could be used, FTIs in all LGUs could be possible. So again, the study can be made by the Committee on Agriculture."

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, author of the Sagip-Saka Act, expressed support and said current law already allows direct purchases by the government from farmers and fisherfolk. "We actually have the law, Sagip-Saka Act, which mandates that direct purchases by [the] government to farmers and fisherfolk organizations are exempted from public bidding," he said.

He added, "Government actually, Mr. President, and the minority leader is correct, [the] government is actually the biggest buyer of food every year."

Senator Raffy Tulfo also supported the proposal but raised concerns over infrastructure. "I do agree with the Senate minority leader that the government should be the one buying the rice from the farmers at a certain price. But the problem is we don't have enough warehouses," he said. "We should invest first doon sa post-harvest at kasama na doon ang pagkakaroon ng maraming warehouses ng NFA."

Sotto believes that if the government studies and implements his proposal, it can help farmers earn more and make food more affordable for everyone.

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