CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija — The provincial government is set to buy palay from local farmers in an effort to protect their livelihood since prices are now at around P10 to P12 per kilo in the towns of Cabiao and San Antonio.

The buying of palay followed the lifting of the election ban, and is part of the continuous Palay Price Support Program under the Provincial Food Council (PFC) that aims to address the continuing decline of palay prices in the province.

Governor Aurelio Umali stated that the bought palay will then be processed to rice and sold to residents at around P20 per kilo through rolling stores established in various areas in Nueva Ecija.

He added that this initiative started during the Covid-19 pandemic when the capitol provided free rice to every home here.

The current decline in palay prices can be attributed to the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019 that opened the unlimited importation of cheap imported rice. With the law, the National Food Authority (NFA) was unable to buy palay from local farmers due to high prices compared to imported rice, a main reason why the government’s support for local production dwindled.

To combat this problem, the provincial government established the Provincial Food Council to address the lack of support, and directly help the local farmers to recover from the effect of the rice liberalization.

Umali assured that the provincial government has enough funds to continue with the program, with the current strong financial state of Nueva Ecija.

Meanwhile, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. assured Filipino farmers that they would not be forced to sell palay at a loss, as the government will continue to purchase palay at fair prices, regardless of the market cost of rice, under his administration’s “Benteng Bigas Meron Na” program.

Marcos on Sunday dispelled speculations from some quarters that palay prices might decrease as the government lowers rice prices to as much as P20 per kilo.

The President reiterated that the NFA would maintain its minimum buying price — P18 per kilo for fresh or wet, and P19 to P23 per kilo for dry.