D.A., tiniyak na prayoridad pa rin ng gobyerno ang lokal na bigas sa harap ng pinababang taripa sa bigas

Transcript

00:00The Department of Agriculture promised a good quality of rice

00:03that will be sold for only P29 per kilo.

00:06The government also clarified that the Executive Order No. 62 of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is not anti-Filipino.

00:13This is the story of Denise Osorio.

00:18The Federation of Free Farmers violated the Executive Order No. 62

00:23issued by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

00:26Under the Executive Order, the price of imported rice is reduced by 15% from the previous 35%.

00:34According to the group, the local farmers will lose P80 billion,

00:40aside from the P1 billion that the government should have collected.

00:46The biggest impact would be the impact on the rice prices.

00:52The prices of rice could drop by about, I think, P3 or P4 per kilo.

00:58In the midst of the rumours that the new EO is giving other countries a chance to earn more than our farmers,

01:06Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel De Mesa gave a statement that this is not anti-Filipino.

01:11He clarified that there is no intention to put aside the production of Filipino farmers.

01:18The only aim of the government is to ensure that the prices of imported products can still be reached.

01:24Again, our priority is local production.

01:28Because the prices in the international market are still expensive.

01:32That's why Secretary Chu Laurel introduced a provision in the EO 62

01:40that there should be a review every four months.

01:43Because of the tariff reduction, it is expected that the prices of rice will drop by P6 to P7 in the coming months.

01:51So if it will be effective on July 6, we can expect that within August,

01:57there will be rice that will be imported if the new tariff scheme is implemented.

02:10Meanwhile, the rollout of P29 per kilo of rice continues this July.

02:16Again, the DA assured that the rice will be sold at a good quality in the Bigas 29 program

02:22because it comes from the local production of farmers.

02:25According to Arnel De Mesa, rice will also pass the laboratory and sensory test of the National Food Authority.

02:32The aging stocks of the NFA, when we say aging stocks,

02:36this is the three months for rice and six months for rice.

02:43This is what will be used and can be sold to the Kadiwa Centers and local governments

02:50for our Bigas 29 program.

02:53We're expecting NFA to produce about 69,000 metric tons per month.

03:02It is expected that almost 7 million families will benefit from low-cost rice

03:06created by the Conditional Cash Transfer Program, senior citizens, PWDs, and solo parents.

03:14Denise Osorio for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.