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LOW palay prices have driven at least three Nueva Ecija farmers to death, Magsasaka Party-list chairman Argel Joseph Cabatbat revealed in a radio interview.
Former agriculture secretary and Magsasaka Party-list nominee Leonardo Montemayor said he has confirmed these reports through his meetings with farmers in the towns of Guimba and Talavera in Nueva Ecija.
Montemayor said palay prices are currently at P15 per kilogram (kg) or lower, which leaves farmers in despair as they fail to pay their debts.
However, Department of Agriculture (DA) spokesman Arnel de Mesa said on Monday that the average palay prices in Central Luzon are at P22/kg to P23/kg, as reported by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).
Earlier this month, National Food Authority (NFA) Administrator Larry Lacson said rice millers are buying clean and dry palay at P20/kg to P22/kg, with wet palay usually bought at P5 lower per kilogram.
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The NFA also raised its palay buying price earlier this month, buying at P18/kg for fresh palay and P24/kg for clean and dry palay.
Montemayor blames the "unlimited importation of cheap rice," for the low palay prices, especially now that the harvest season is currently ongoing.
In 2019, the Philippine government implemented Republic Act (RA) 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which lifted the quantitative import restriction on rice and replaced it with tariffs instead.
Nueva Ecija farmers are planning to hold a protest on Saturday, March 22, at the Quezon Bypass Road to call the attention of the public on their plight. Up to 150,000 farmers are expected to be in attendance.
