The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the National Food Authority (NFA) will be stricter in enforcing the rules on palay-buying in 2025, making the process more transparent and ensuring that small farmers will profit fairly from their produce.
The DA and the NFA also announced they will limit palay-buying to 100 50-kilogram (kg) bags per farmer, so that more farmers can sell their palay to the NFA.
Agriculture Secretary and NFA Council Chairman Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Thursday, only verified farmers can sell palay to the NFA and must either be listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), the government’s official list and database of farmers, or show a certificate from their local governments.
The DA added each NFA branch must also submit a monthly list of those who sold palay to the government, and their farmgate prices, which will then be posted on the bulletin boards of each branch.
The agency said the list can be shared on the NFA’s official social media pages but farmers’ permissions will be secured to follow privacy laws.
The NFA said each warehouse will have a special table where farmers’ groups can watch the buying process, in line with the government’s commitment to ensure fair prices for rice farmers’ harvests and boost their income.
NFA Administrator Larry Lacson told reporters in a virtual briefing on Thursday the move will be implemented immediately.
“We did not change anything in terms of the rules. I just directed them to implement it strictly, with an additional transparency element… So, it is really not a change in rule but we only just enhanced our transparency,” he explained.
Lacson said the move will also open the NFA’s palay procurement to “public scrutiny.”
The NFA said its staff will inspect farmers’ storage places before they can deliver the palay they sold to the agency, and before the agency can officially receive the palay, to ensure that the produce came from the farmers’ harvests that season.
After the delivery, NFA representatives will follow procedures to verify if the farmers who delivered the palay were the same farmers who sold the palay to the NFA. Lacson said these procedures would ensure that only farmers or farmers’ cooperatives, not rice middle-men or traders, could sell palay to the NFA.
Lacson added they will now limit the buying to a maximum of 100 50-kg bags of palay per farmer, or the volume indicated in their RSBSA records as well as in the lists from the local governments.
Lacson said this will ensure that more farmers get to sell and benefit in the government’s palay-buying program.
“These are all within the rules that we are strengthening so that more farmers will be able to benefit, as well as to weed out traders that are also selling to the government,” he further said.
“The same rule applies if farmers’ cooperatives will sell. So, each member will have a limit of selling only 100 bags,” Lacson added.
Lacson said the limit of 100 bags per farmer may be reduced further, depending on the availability of funds and warehouse capacity.
“My message to our farmers who previously enjoyed [selling] more than a hundred [bags] is we should all be helping each other. There are many other farmers who are facing challenges now so we want more people to benefit,” Lacson explained.
The NFA emphasized that it has been buying, and will continue to buy fresh and dry palay at P20 to P24 per kg, above the P14-per-kg production cost, while traders have been buying at P16/kg only.
The agency said all its branches will keep an eye on farmers who will try to sell outside of their registered areas as every delivery will be logged, including the farmer’s name, vehicle plate number, and the time of arrival.
NFA said each sale will be recorded in a virtual or digital sheet by region and warehouse that will be updated daily.
The agency also warned that any NFA worker caught cheating the system will be punished under the Magna Carta for Small Farmers.
The law states that any official or employee of the DA and NFA “who allows, consorts or connives” with any trader or non-farmer in the purchase of rice, corn or other agricultural produce or inputs subject to price support, or any other government subsidy, which is intended exclusively to benefit small farmers, shall be punished by a fine of not less than P10,000 or by imprisonment for a term of not less than two years but not more than four years, or both at the discretion of the court.
Those found guilty of violating the rule will also face separate administrative sanctions and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
