SAN FELIPE, ZAMBALES – Senator Cynthia Villar urged Zambales farmers to embrace the proposed rice tariffication law since P10 billion earned from the law will be used for the local rice industry.
At the San Felipe Farmers Association General Assembly last Friday, Villar told the stakeholders that the bill would provide a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) worth P10 billion. She added that part of the fund would be used in the mechanization of rice farming.
Villar stressed that the mechanization of rice farming is crucial in the development of the industry, saying this will allow the agriculture sector, especially the rice industry, to grow and become more competitive in view of the regional economic integration under the ASEAN economic community.
She explained that half of the P10-billion rice fund will be allotted to the Philippine Center for Post Harvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech). The funds, he added, that funds aim to provide groups of farmers with the machineries needed.
The bicameral committee approved on November 22 the allocation of P10 billion to the RCEF that will be utilized for the improvement of farm machineries and equipment. Villar, who is also the chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said that this will authorize the NFA to buy rice from local farmers. (Jonas Reyes)
