Sotto, Lacson differ on P20 / kilo rice; Binay bats for better irrigation
SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, Bulacan — Former Senate president Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and former senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson recently aired opposing views on the possibility that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s campaign promise of bringing down the price of rice to P20 per kilogram will be realized soon.
Sotto, during the press briefing of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate here last Friday, said there is still a big possibility that price of rice will be reduced, especially if the government considers their proposal to buy 50 percent of farmers’ produce at their prescribed prices.
“Malaki ang possibility na pwede do’n sa proposal namin, 50 percent ng output ng lahat ng magsasaka bibilhin mo at their price? Malaki ang possibility na bumaba,” Sotto said.
(There’s a big possibility based on our proposal, where 50 percent of all farmers’ output is purchased by the government at their price. There’s a big possibility if we do this.)
“I cannot pinpoint what the price would be, but definitely, that is the intent ng proposal na ‘yon eh, para nga bumaba eh. At makinabang ang magsasaka,” he added.
(I cannot pinpoint what the price would be, but definitely, that is the intent ng proposal na ‘yon eh, so that it will decrease. And then the farmers would benefit.)
Lacson meanwhile said he does not think the P20 per kilogram rice promise will be attained.
“‘Yong rice? Bihira kong kontrahin si Senator Sotto pero realistically parang mahirap ma-attain ‘yong P20 per kilo ng rice. Ma-approximate lang sana, masaya na tayong lahat pero to accomplish ‘yong P20 per kilo? Ako, I’m being pragmatic, medyo mahirap,” he added.
( I rarely go against Senator Sotto’s opinions but realistically, it seems hard to attain the P20 per kilo of rice. Maybe we can reach an approximate figure, we would be happy with that, but at P20 per kilo? I’m being pragmatic, that’s difficult.)
Lacson ran for president in 2022 with Sotto as his running mate but lost to the “Uniteam” tandem of now-President Marcos Jr, and Vice President Sara Duterte.
Now, both Lacson and Sotto are running under the Senate slate of the Marcos administration.
Abby: More support for irrigation
Makati City ayor Abby Binay meanwhile believes that one way to help farmers, and at the same time ensure food security, is by providing increased support for irrigation.
According to Binay, there is a need for government to provide greater support for irrigation, noting that a significant portion of the country’s agricultural potential remains untapped due to insufficient irrigation systems.
“We need to put more money into our irrigation,” Binay said.
“Imagine the potential of those lands for us to achieve food security and not rely on the importation of food.”
Aside from irrigation, Binay also said other problems hounding the agriculture industry is the lack of post-harvest facilities, which is critical to ensuring that rice and other produce have a longer shelf life.
“Clearly, the support we are giving is not enough, especially in key areas,” she said. “But I believe we should begin with the most basic necessity, which is irrigation.”
Despite the Marcos administration’s focus on agriculture, prices of basic food products have increased during his term.
Earlier this year, polling firm Social Weather Stations (SW) released two surveys indicating the side effects of high prices of food, as self-rated poverty was at 63 percent, which is the highest recorded since 2003.
Last January 24, SWS also released another survey showing that 25.9 percent of Filipinos experienced involuntary hunger in the fourth quarter of 2024 — highest since the 30.7 percent hunger incidence recorded in September 2020, or back when the economy was hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
