Manila, Philippines — Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano has filed a bill allocating a “seed fund” of P15-billion and P3-billion production subsidy for the farmers.

Recognizing that the local rice industry “continues to wallow in backward conditions of production,” the farmer-lawmaker filed House Bill 3105 or the Rice Industry Development Act (RIDA) of 2010 which seeks to strengthen the National Food Authority’s unhusked rice procurement capability.

“This bill seeks to do away with the policy of importation as first option,” he said in HB 3105’s explanatory note.

Under the bill, among the programs that should be implemented are direct credit for rice farmers; sustained subsidy for production inputs; development of irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities; strengthening the palay procurement capability of the National Food Authority (NFA) and upgrading the distribution and marketing of rice; and provision for extension services.

He said these programs “will nurse the development and protection of our rice industry into a self-reliant and sustainable economic element of our national development and bring the country away from import-dependency and food insecurity.”

Since 2002, the Philippines has been importing rice at over 1 million metric tons a year, with the volumes increasing each year making it as among the world’s top rice importers. The country ranked fourth in 2003, outranking big and thickly populated countries such as India, China, and Indonesia, Mariano said. The United Nations branded the Philippines as among the 33 countries that have high risks to food shocks.