00:00Today, the hearing of the Philippine Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Food Security was held in Marangkada.
00:09The hearing was also held to fight smuggling and rice manipulation in the country.
00:16Joshua Garcia of PTV in Balitang Pambansa, Joshua.
00:22Yes, we will discuss today in the Congress of the five committees the issues related to agriculture, food, social services, and food security.
00:35First of all, the five committees of Race and Means, Trade and Industry, Agriculture and Food and Social Services and Food Security
00:45to discuss the issue of smuggling, rice manipulation, and cartels that increase the prices of the main products in the country.
00:53We will also follow this in the discussion of House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
00:57Under House Resolution 254, it is a priority to address the needs to solve the hunger in the country.
01:04One of the topics discussed is how to solve the impact of agricultural products to help avoid rising prices.
01:12The Department of Agriculture agreed and said that they are already taking action on this.
01:17Like their program, a project for the prosperity of the new Philippines that will serve as a four-year plan of the agency
01:24where they focus on post-harvest systems and infrastructure, better logistic systems for input and production output,
01:31streamlining of transportation, distribution for sustainable and cost-effective agricultural systems, and others.
01:37They will also help small farmers and fishermen to sell their products and reduce middlemen and marketing layers.
01:44According to the study conducted by Representative Joey Salceda as Chairperson of the Committee on Waste and Means in our hearing,
01:51it is possible to use P30 per kilo of rice if the expenses from transport, post-harvest losses, and others are reduced.
02:01The Roadmap for the Rice Industry until 2028 is also included in the five committees.
02:07The RISE Industry Development Program or MRIDP, which is one of its priorities,
02:13is the introduction of digitalization in agriculture, such as DA price monitoring using mobile devices,
02:21nationwide rules, and others that will strengthen the agricultural sector.
02:26Laws are also included in the naturalization of the KINTACOG.
02:29Laws are recognized in dealing with smuggling and price manipulation,
02:32such as the RA-12022 or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act,
02:37RA-10845, Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which is non-payable for cases.
02:43There are also other laws such as RA-10863, 781, 7581, which are included in the priorities,
02:50such as rice, oil, meat, vegetables, and others.
02:52Lastly, I would like to remind Rep. Erwin Tulfo that aside from the government agencies,
02:57other sectors, such as farmers and private sector, should be included in listening
03:02so that the problem of high price of rice can be addressed, which is the priority of the committees.
03:08That's all for the latest news. Good bye.
03:12Thank you very much, Joshua Garcia.
