The National Food Authority (NFA) is rolling out stricter rules for buying palay (unhusked rice) to make the process more transparent and make sure the small farmers, not traders, benefit.
Agriculture Secretary and NFA Council chairman Francisco P. Tiu Laurel said the move follows President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s order to ensure fair prices for rice farmers’ harvests and boost their income.
Under the new rules, only verified farmers can sell palay to the NFA. They must either be listed in the government’s official farmers’ registry (RSBSA) or show a certificate from the local government.
Each NFA branch must submit a monthly list of who sold palay and how much. These lists will be posted on bulletin boards at the branch. With farmers’ permission, they can also be shared on the NFA’s official Facebook pages—following privacy laws.
To make things more open, each NFA warehouse will have a special desk where farmers’ groups can watch the buying process.
“This is to ensure that only legitimate farmers are selling to NFA and to address the allegations that traders are the ones benefiting from NFA,” said NFA administrator Larry Lacson. “These new rules will open our palay procurement to public scrutiny.”
Before any delivery, NFA staff will check if the farmer really has palay stored. After delivery, they’ll also make sure it was the same farmer who completed the sale. Any suspicious activity must be reported.
Farmers can only sell up to the limit listed in their RSBSA records or in a list from the local government. NFA branches will also keep an eye on farmers who try to sell in areas where they aren’t registered.
Every delivery must be logged—staff will write down the farmer’s name, vehicle plate number, and time of arrival in the guard’s logbook. Each sale will also be recorded in a Google Sheet by region and warehouse, and updated daily.
There will be regular checks of farmer records and sales. Any NFA worker caught cheating the system will be punished under the Magna Carta for Small Farmers.
