DA now authorized to give cash aid to small rice farmers

FARM WORK A farmer spreads fertilizer granules as he walks through his rice field in Bambang town, Nueva Vizcaya province. —KARLSTON LAPNITEN/FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure authorizing the Department of Agriculture (DA) to give cash aid to rice farmers tilling two hectares of land and below until 2024.

Under Republic Act No. 11598, otherwise known as the Cash Assistance to Filipino Farmers Act, the DA can use funds from the annual tariff revenues in excess of P10 billion under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to give aid to rice farmers.

The new law directs the Bureau of Customs to directly remit to the DA the said excess funds.

Both BOC and DA are tasked to submit separate reports to Congress at the end of each year on the remittance of funds and actual fund disbursement.

The measure was passed by the House of Representatives on Sept. 15 last year and adopted by the Senate on Sept. 21.

It was signed by Duterte on Dec. 10. The copy of the new law was released to the media on Thursday.

EDV