00:00 The Agricultural Department vows to expedite the distribution of subsidies to local farmers this planting season.
00:06 This is expected to help hamper the increasing prices of rice.
00:11 Clazel Pardilia tells us more.
00:13 Miriam is mixing two varieties of rice to stretch her budget.
00:20 One is the cheapest staple grain she found in the market
00:23 and the other one, a little more expensive class of rice.
00:28 What did you buy?
00:30 This is the Tiktok for P50, it's expensive.
00:32 Where will you mix it?
00:34 For the soft one, this is P50.
00:36 It's expensive to buy, you have to save.
00:38 The price monitoring of the Department of Agriculture shows
00:43 from P41 to P45 a kilo of regular milled rice in October, it went up to P50 this week.
00:52 Meanwhile, class of well-milled rice spiked by P6 a kilo, which is now sold from as low as P45 to as high as P54.
01:01 According to some rice retailers at the Munoz Market, the price of a 25 kilogram of rice soared by P50.
01:10 We were able to get P1,2 last time, half of it.
01:14 Now, it's P1,2,15, the cheapest.
01:17 They can't get rice, so how can they get rice when it's already here?
01:22 The Department of Agriculture explains, price of husked grains or palay usually moves when the harvest season is about to end.
01:31 But rice, which was bought at a lower price during the peak of the harvest season, should not be sold at skyrocketing price.
01:40 It's not a matter of high price, because remember, most of the traders bought it at a low price in September and October.
01:54 The national average of Fargate is 22.11.
02:01 So it should be P45 only sir?
02:04 Yes. It's within P45.
02:07 Sometimes, they create a lot of problems.
02:14 But remember, the majority of the rice they bought is cheap.
02:19 In a closed-door meeting, DA Secretary Francisco Laurel Jr. met with agriculture stakeholders.
02:26 They discussed how to bring down the price of rice, address the needs of local farmers this planting season.
02:33 According to SINAG, Secretary Laurel pledged to expedite the distribution of financial assistance for rice farmers.
02:41 If it's downloaded, it will be implemented immediately.
02:46 We know that dry season crops will use more fuel to grow.
02:54 It will cost more. So it will help the 5,000 hectare.
03:00 Creating protocols in using African swine fever vaccine was also tackled.
03:06 Earlier, lawmakers questioned the allegedly privately led clinical trials of ASF vaccines.
03:14 A black market of vaccine against swine disease has also been reported.
03:19 Regarding the vaccine, he will look at the guidelines on who should be handling it.
03:29 If we have mistakes in the procedures, we will correct it.
03:35 If we need to start again, the trials will be like a so-be-it.
03:41 He will look at all the places where we have a loophole.
03:45 Local producers also appealed not to extend the lower tariff for imported rice, corn and pork.
03:52 It will affect the local industry and of course, it's not good if we lower the tariff.
04:01 That's the indication that he's saying that our local producers should be protected.
04:08 With the combination of his background as a businessman before, he's a farmer and a local producer like us,
04:15 he's a combination that will become a full-time, full-fledged DA Secretary.
04:22 Maybe this time, we have a chance to make a way to balance local produce versus importation.
04:33 Earlier this morning, Secretary Laurel promised to continue collaborating with all farm stakeholders
04:39 and agri-sectors to address the major problems and concerns of the industry.
04:45 I just need teamwork and cooperation and I think we can do a miracle. Hopefully do a miracle.
04:53 Kelayza Pardilia for the Nation.
