DA uses LGUs' IRA to buy fertilizer for rice program

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has directed field officials to meet with governors and mayors to iron out kinks in spending their P12.5-billion internal revenue allotment (IRA) in hopes of boosting rice production in palay-growing areas, an action that has been met with cynicism by local elected officials who have other projects in mind. It was Yap who worked out the scheme, which ostensibly would benefit rice producers but would shut out farmers who are cultivating other crops, and will use billions of cash that the Arroyo administration had failed to give to local government units (LGUs) since 2002. Under the Local Government Code (LGC), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is tasked with distributing IRA to barangays, municipalities, cities and provinces to ensure that they would have some degree of financial autonomy. But since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took power in January 2001, LGUs had to curry favor with Malacanang to get their share. Yap, who is largely blamed by critics for the rice crisis, has been scolded by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo no less in one recent Cabinet meeting for his failure to distribute cheap rice through the National Food Authority (NFA), which relies heavily on rice traders to disseminate its imported rice. He also sought, and got, P60 billion from the Palace for rice importations at a time when Thailand and Vietnam were scrimping on exports. Yap had been criticized sharply by Pakistan and Bangladesh for buying up rice and pushing prices to record highs. The huge outlay came at a time when the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) offered to sell 25 percent of rice to be harvested by farmers and Herculano Co, president of the Philippine Confederation of Grains Associations (Philcongrains) challenged Yap to simply buy their rice stocks to avoid long queues and show that there is no shortage of the staple. KMP chairman and new Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano slammed Yap for not heeding his plea and said Yap's claim that the rice crisis is over is one guarantee that there will be more of the same. Mariano also accused Yap of ensuring rice security by making Indian rice traders happy since they handle much of the importations of the NFA. For the first quarter of this year, rice production grew only by an insignificant 1.96 percent, which cannot keep up with population growth. But Yap said that there will be sufficient rice supply even during the July-September lean months because of strong summer harvests and adequate government imports, with six million bags to be unloaded in Mindanao alone this month. Rice prices zoomed to more than P40 a kilo in the cities of Gen. Santos and Davao. Yap also said that DA’s regional executive directors (REDs) will be touching base with governors and mayors to discuss intervention measures that the DA and LGUs can pursue jointly this rainy season. These measures include bankrolling fertilizers for higher palay productivity, which many senators and congressmen feel could turn out to be another occasion for graft reminiscent of P728-million fertilizer scam perpetrated by former DA undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-joc" Bolante on the eve of the May 2004 presidential elections. Yap said the five-harvest rice self-sufficiency program is designed to make the 98 percent sufficient in the grain in two years’ time, pushing yield to 18.55 million metric tons (MT) next year and a higher 19.77 million MT in 2010. Yap is banking on the issuance of the controversial Executive Order No. 723 monetizing P12.5 billion in unremitted IRA allotments representing the difference between what LGUs were supposed to receive and what they actually got in 2001 and 2004. The Arroyo administration has been characterized by reenacted budgets and delayed IRA payments. DA provides fertilizer subsidies to farmers equivalent to P250 per bag. With fertilizer prices doubling in the domestic market to a range of P1,600 to P1,800 per bag from their year-ago levels, Yap said that a joint subsidy program of the DA and LGUs will certainly help cushion the impact of skyrocketing prices on farmers. In the same radio interviews, Yap said the incremental increase of 300,000 MT to 400,000 MT in the summer harvests plus the secured imports of the National Food Authority (NFA) will ensure adequate supply even during the traditional lean months. Hence, he said, the NFA is willing to go back to the international market only to ensure buffer inventories equivalent to 30 days’ supply—double the normal 15-day buffer stock of the food agency—for the rest of 2008. - GMANews.TV