After the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) appeal, Sen. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan on Thursday said he will push for a P100 million budget for a crucial survey that is used as the basis for the importation of basic foodstuffs like rice.
During an Oct. 22 joint committee hearing, Marisol Fallarme, PSA’s chief statistical specialist of crops statistics division, said that the House of Representatives did not approve their proposed P200 million to conduct a Survey of Food Demand on Agricultural Commodities.
‘While it is not P200 million, I think it’s around 100 million, we will put a budget for it,’ Pangilinan said in a joint press briefing at the Department of Agrarian Reform headquarters.
Pangilinan noted that Senate committee of finance chair Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian approved his proposed budget amendment to fund this important survey.
‘It is not an insertion but an open and public proposed amendment, and hopefully it gets approved so that this very important research gets funded,’ Pangilinan said.
Fallarme said the PSA proposed to conduct another survey on food demand, which was last conducted in 2015.
The general objective of the survey is to generate data on per capita consumption of rice, corn, and other agricultural food commodities, according to PSA.
‘That is the basis to know our countrymen’s consumption of vegetables, rice, meat, et cetera, so we could see if we are sufficient or insufficient; and if insufficient, that when we decide how much volume we would import,’ Pangilinan explained.
‘That is very basic and critical; that’s why we are wondering why it was not funded,’ the senator further said.
When it was first revealed, Pangilinan was shocked since this meant that food imports are not based on data.
But for the meantime, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued an executive order (EO) No. 102 extending the suspension of the importation of regular and well-milled rice until Dec. 31.
Pangilinan welcomed this, along with Marcos’ other executive orders seeking a floor price for palay (unhusked rice) and the full implementation of the Sagip Saka Act, of which he is the principal author.
Marcos has signed EO 100 series of 2025 to set a floor price for palay purchases, factoring in production costs, prevailing market prices, to provide a reasonable margin for farmers. Also signed by the president was EO 101 directing the full implementation of the Sagip Saka Act, which enables national and local government agencies to directly procure produce from farmers and fisherfolk without public bidding.
‘These two EOs go hand in hand,’ Pangilinan said. ‘EO 100 protects farmers from predatory pricing, while EO 101 ensures that the government becomes the farmers’ biggest and most reliable buyer.’