The Department of Agriculture (DA) on Thursday said a buffer fund of at least P5 billion for the procurement and stockpiling of rice and other agricultural commodities for purposes of stabilizing prices should soon be operational.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr., at the sidelines of a forum hosted by the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines in Makati City, said this development moves the agency closer to its goal of combatting price manipulators and nonmarket agents looking to sabotage food prices by artificially creating shortages.
According to Tiu Laurel, the fund has already been approved in principle with the help of the country’s economic managers under which several fund options were discussed. But he acknowledged there is the little detail of identifying where the funds could be sourced from.
“We are almost certain that we can get the P5 billion buffer fund in case we have to trigger the price action,” Tiu Laurel told reporters.
In April this year, the DA asked the Office of the President to authorize such a fund citing Section 9 of the Price Act that allows the agency to create a buffer fund for the procurement of rice and other prime agricultural commodities.
Tiu Laurel recently signed the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Price Act’s section 9 which provides that stockpiled commodities be distributed in commodities short areas at reasonable prices.
The IRR provides for the stockpiled commodities to be distributed in retail outlets organized bywomen’s groups and cooperatives registered with the Cooperatives Development Authority and accredited by the DA, in outlets operated by consumer groups and similar associations and through the network of Kadiwa rolling stores.
Tiu Laurel said the commodities covered by the buffer fund certainly includes rice as among the priority products but that the full roster of eligible commodities is not yet complete.
“The law has been there for the longest time but we will only use it today. We see it as a way of controlling prices so we have to be very careful. This is the first time we will use it so we studied it carefully,” Tiu Laurel said.
