Press Release
September 9, 2013

Transcript: Sen. Chiz at the DA budget hearing
of the Committee on Finance

Sen. Chiz at the DA budget hearing of the Committee on Finance

Chiz: Some questions from the chair. First, Mr. Secretary, nilagay nyo po sa presentation ninyo na inflation rate ng food and non-alcoholic beverages is 1.28 percent for 2014, 5.4 percent in 2011, 2.4 in 2012. May I get the figures for rice?

I remember distinctly in 2010, the price per kilo was P23 in the market. Right now, may I ask how much is NFA selling and how much is the rice our market place is? Administrator Calayag

NFA Adminsitrator Orlan Calayag: Sir, as of this time the NFA is still selling the 27-peso rice and the 32-peso-middle-priced rice. The 32-peso-middle-priced rice is comparable to the 36-37-peso-commercial rice in the market.

Chiz: 27 and 32. Ang sa private?

Calayag: Ang sa private nagre-range sa mga, same quality, will be around 35 to 36.

Chiz: 35 to 36. So magkano ang inflation rate ng presyo ng bigas sa Pilipinas year on year?

Calayag: Ideally it should not be going ...

Chiz: I am not talking ideally. I'm talking actual. It's impossible for it to be at 1.8. You are mentioning in your report 1.8 for 2013 to include rice I presume. 5.4 consolidated in 2011 and 2.4 in 2012 of rice pa lang would be what?

Sec. Alcala: Mr. Chairman, ipapa-double check ko lang sa BAS dahil hindi po kami disintegrated noon sa ...

Chiz: I guess the number 1 staple would be rice.

Alcala: Yes sir

Chiz: But do you confirm,Adminstrator Calayag? In 2010 how much was NFA selling its rice low and medium when you took over?

Calayag: I took over last January ...

Chiz: No, when the administration took over.

Calayag: 25.

Chiz: 25? And now it's at 27 and 32.

Calayag: Yes, sir.

Chiz: So you are talking of approximately at least a 10 percent roughly

Calayag: Yes, sir.

Chiz: Kindly give us the figures Mr. Secretary. Second, how much is our buffer stock right now?

Calayag: Sir, as of this time the NFA has a total inventory of 15 days. That means that even if they don't have any commercial inventory even a single -- we will be able to supply the ...

Chiz: I know that sir but you and I both know that 15 days is not a very comfortable figure. What is the ideal buffer stock that we should be having? How many days?

Calayag: We should, 30 days at the beginning of the lean months. Today we are almost towards the end of the lean months and we are not supposed to maintain the whole 30 days for the duration of the lean months. It should be depleting as well as we go over the period of the lean months.

Chiz: Correct me if I'm wrong, is this the lowest ever that the NFA has had in so far as the buffer stock in number of days is concerned?

Calayag: No, sir. In fact this is one of the highest. This is even higher from..

Chiz: 15 days?

Calayag: Yes sir. As of today compared to last year and to previous years. There were times when NFA only has 2 days.

Chiz: When was this?

Calayag: 1995.

Chiz: Ikaw naman ang tagal na nun eH. Wala namang ganunan.

Calayag: But just to give the honorable senators ...

Chiz: But the ideal is not 15 days I'm sure.

Calayag: Sir, again the ideal is 30 days and we are required to maintain a 30-days buffer stock at the beginning of the lean months which is July 1st. As we go along we are distributing stocks to the market so ideally at this point in time, NFA having 15 days with only less than a month left before the end of the lean months, that gives us a really good figure.

Chiz: In real terms, how much is the buffer stock of NFA? In metric tons.

Calayag: In metric tons we are looking at...

Chiz: Per day is equivalent to how many metric tons?

Calayag: We have 638,000 metric tons available.

Chiz: So do I divide that 638,000 metric tons by 15 days? Tama ba?

Calayag: Yes.

Chiz: So your estimate is 42,000

Calayag: Yes. That's even more than what we are required to keep because we are using the 34,000 metric tons sa daily consumption.

Chiz: Buong bansa na iyon?

Calayag: Buong bansa.

Chiz: O kasama na ang private sector doon?

Calayag: NFA inventory lang po iyon. Wala na pala doon ang commercial at ang household.

Chiz: So ang daily na kino-consume is 34,000 metric tons a day?

Calayag: Yes sir. For the whole Philippines.

Chiz: For the whole Philippines. So hindi pa nga kasama ang private doon.

Calayag: Hindi pa po kasama. If you would consider the private inventory at ang nasa household, we are looking at 1.7 million metric tons that is still available.

Chiz: Equivalent to how many days?

Calayag: 51 days

Chiz: So ilan ang buffer stock natin total including private?

Calayag: 1.7 million metric tons in 51 days

Chiz: So, begs the question. Bakit tumataas ang presyo at may shortage ba talaga o wala?

Calayag: Wala po kaming nakikita na shortage in terms of production kasi unang-una noong nakalipas na mga buwan ay kinausap kami ng mga nagnenegosyo natin ng bigas at sinabi nila na tulungan natin sila kasi ang inventory nila ng bigas ay hanggang kisame at hindi nila nagigiling. Pinuntahan po natin ito at even noong last month bago umingay ang ganitong issue may mga documentation pa kami na naitatabi na may mga inventory po sila.

Chiz: Bakit po tumataas?

Calayag: Ang nakikita po namin dito ay baka ito na ang kaunting window na natitira para sa mga ilang negosyante, hindi naman lahat, na alam nila na nag-uumpisa na ang anihan. In fact, ang NFA being the buyer of last resort, kami ay nakakabili na ngayon. So pag dumating na ang main harvest na it follows na bababa na ang presyo at iyong kanilang mga inventory na natitira ay kailangan nila..siguro sa iba ay gusto nila na ibenta nang mas mataas.

Chiz: But presumably the DA is not power less in so far as this situation is concerned.

Calayag: No sir. In fact, we are doing all our best efforts to address the problem.

Chiz: Namely what sir?

Calayag: First, we have instituted the.. because NFA is mandated to exercise our visitorial powers so we are visiting mga warehouses just to check that we still have a comfortable level of inventory. Pangalawa po, we have been putting our people in the market. Kasama na doon ang market watchers na hindi lang bumibisita but are now staying there the whole day just to see to it na there will be no switching of NFA rice. For your honorables information, as of this time we have more than 200 cases na filed cases against those na magbibigas. This is only for the duration of the lean months. Ang mga negosyante na nagpapalit ng bigas na ito ang NFA rice na binebenta as commercial, pinapakasuhan na natin sila. Ang iba ay dina-divert nila, ang iba ay overpricing of NFA rice.

Chiz: Thank you sir. On a second point, you talked earlier about income for farmers. Matagal na ho secretary ang 20,000 per hectare, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, na income ng magsasaka per year. Hindi naman po siya tumataas. Pag umepekto ang 10-45 o 747 ninyo, tataas ba ang kita ng magsasaka o bababa pa?

Alcala: For sure po tataas Mr. Chairman.

Chiz: Bakit tataas?

Alcala: Kasi matatarget doon sabay dahil tataas ang production volume. At the same time bababa ang per kilogram ng production cost.

Chiz: Bababa ang cost dahil mas malaki ang production.

Alcala: Opo.

Chiz: Pero yung per unit cost ng production pareho pa rin, bumaba lamang dahil mas mataas yung production.

Alcala: Malaking bagay po kasi yon kapagka po tumaas yung production so kapag po tumaas yung production so ang (inaudible) po natin ay yung unit cost po ay bumaba.

Chiz: Ang malaking bahagi po nito ay dahil sa irrigation?

Alcala: Opo.

Chiz: On target po ba tayo sa irrigation projects natin?

Alcala: So far po eh nakaka-sustain po tayo, Mr. Chairman.

Chiz: Nalilito po kasi ako dahil ayon sa DA press release on target tayo sa production natin pero binulyawan at tinanggal ng Presidente ang NIA administrator natin dahil hindi daw nakakahabol at hindi nagpi-perform, I cannot match those two incidence. Kung on target tayo at nami-meet natin yung targets natin bakit kailangan tanggalin yung nagdaang NIA administrator?

Alcala: Actually po, Mr. Chairman, yung pagpapalit ng NIA administrator sapagkat tapos na ang kanyang term of office.

Chiz: Ikaw naman, iba ho yung tapos, yung tapos po hindi na kailangang bulyawan ho, yung nabulyawan po ibig sabihin may nagawang mali.

Again I failed to see the congruence between being able to catch up and meet our targets in so far as rice self-sufficiency is concerned, particularly, the input of irrigation, and yet the performance of NIA was dismal, I guess from the President's own point of view at that for the previous year, bago ho nag-anniversary I presume year on year kinumpirma ng Pangulo yung naging performance ng NIA at ng targets po niya. So ano yung nagpuno sa balanse?

Alcala: Mr. Chairman, actually po mabuti pong malinaw na tama na pinakamalaking factor is the irrigation pero hindi po irrigation lamang, actually po yung pong pagpapataas ng kalidad ng binhi, yung pong papunta po natin sa ibaba at pakikipag-usap natin sa local government units, nakadetach po ito Mr. Chairman mabuti pong mairemind po sa bawat isa detach po ang mga technician at tsaka po yung national programs.

Chiz: Pinag-uusapan po natin ang binhi, ilang porsiyento na po ba ang certified seeds natin na ginagamit ng magsasaka, ilang porsiyento ang inbreed at ilang porsiyento ang high breed?

Alcala: pwede po, Mr. Chiarman pasagutin natin si ...

Chiz: Mr. Delima.

DA Assistant Secretary Delima: Wala lang akong dalang data dito, Mr. Senator, pero pwede naming, kasi ang alam ko dahil kahapon lang kami nagdiscuss ay 30% yung gumamit ng certified seeds, mayroon five percent na high breed pero yung sinasabi nating part dito sa bagong program ng community seeds banking kung saan ang ating mga regional field units namumudmod ng registered seeds para itanim ng mga magsasaka at yung produkto noon ay kanilang gagamitin sa kanilang sakahan ay umabot na rin ng 30% so totality umabot na kami, nag-hit na kami sa mga good quality ng mga binhi, umabot na tayo ng 70%.

Chiz: In terms of output ano po yung pinagkaiba ng certified sa registered seeds.

Delima: An average mayroon siyang diperesnsiya na 1.5 metric ton per hectare, per cropping.

Chiz: So ang certified seeds ang ginagamit ilan po per hectare?

Delima: An average ginagamit siya ng isang sako at around 40 kilos per hectare.

Chiz: Sa registered seeds ilan po?

Delima: Sa registered seeds, ganundin po, Mr. Chair.

Chiz: But in terms of output sabi nyo 1.5 yung dipresensiya.

Delima: Yung dipresensiya mula doon sa tinatawag na home seed, yung galing sa tray sir itatanim nila ulit. Mula sa inbreed yon.

Chiz: Ang tanong ko po kaibahan ng registered sa certified?

Delima: Ah yungg registered siya yung mother ng certified seeds, purity lang ang nagka diperensiya, Mr. Chair.

Chiz: In term of output po?

Delima: Ah halos parehas lang.

Chiz: Bakit ho iba pa yung tawag nyo?

Delima: Kasi yung purity doon ay almost 90% pataas, yung certified ay 80%.

Chiz: So mas maganda pa ho yung registered kaysa sa certified?

Delima: Yes, pero meron ho kasing process sa selection para mayroong mga (inaudible) para magkaroon ng certified seeds, kaya nga mayroon siyang strict na processing kaya nga lumiit yung kanyangg production output.

Chiz: Thank you po, just a few more points, Mr. Secretary ang 8.4 billion nyo sa BUB (bottom-up budgeting), sino po yung mag-iimplement nyan?

Alcala: LGUs po, Mr. Chairman.

Chiz: Ano po yan ida-download yung pondo sa LGU.

Alcala: Opo.

Chiz: Directly to the LGU. From DA to LGU.

Alcala: DBM po.

Chiz: DBM directly to the LGU.

Alcala: From DBM po dadaan pos a regional field units po ng DA.

Chiz: Tapos ida-download sa LGU.

Alcala: Yes.

Chiz: LGU po ang mag-iimplement.

Alcala: Opo, ang ano lang nito Mr. Chairman, if ever na yung pong LGU ay mayroon pong hindi na nali-liquidate sa Department they will not be allowed to be downloaded sa kanila, kailangan po muna nilang mag-liquiadate po.

Chiz: Sino po ang mag-iimplement kung hindi pwede ang LGU?

Alcala: Pwede pong ipa-implement ng regional field units po.

Chiz: Sa programa po ba ng DA ilang porsiyento ang gumagamit pa ng NGO para i-implement ang mga programa ninyo? Halimbawa po farm-to-market walang NGO dyan, bottom-up posibleng meron, hindi po ba? Pagnag-MOA ang LGU sa isang NGO para i-implement yung partikular na aspetong yon ng DA fund, possible po yun di ba?

Alcala: Opo, kapagka ang LGU po ay sila po ang nag ...

Chiz: At hindi nyo pinagbabawal pa yon sa ngayon?

Alcala: This time po dahil sa mga pangyayari po ng kontrobersiya I think we have to check on DBM at tsaka po CoA.

Chiz: Yung rice program po ninyo anong porsiyento kung mayroon mang dadaan sa NGO at alin yung kayo mismo ang mag-iimplement.

Alcala: Ipapa-double check ko lang po, Mr. Chairman, wala pa po kaming disintegrate ...

Chiz: Kindly submit that to us. Yung rice program of 6.9, corn program of 1.7, high-valued commercial crop of 1.6, livestock program of 1.3, fisheries program of 3.7 all in billions kung sino po ang mag-iimplement non.

Alcala: Opo.

Chiz: And two more things, Mr. Secretary, can you also, as per the request of Senator Drilon, unbundled for us and give us the line-item allocation of the 17.317 billion ng irriagtion project ng NIA, both locally anf foreign assisted. Pangalawa po yung 12 billion na farm-to-market road projects, paki-submit din po, may listahan na po at validated projects na ito.

Alcala: May ilan na lang pong natitira, ginagawa po ng diretsong disintegration.

Chiz: Pati po yung 1.7 billion na PAMANA projects paki disaggregate din po, ang habol po namin Secretary, ayon kay Secretary Abad released documents na ang budget so hanggat maaari kung line-item yan yun na rin yung released document, hindi na kailangan ng SARO at mas mabilis po ninyong maiimplement yung project kung nasa porma na pong yan, wala ho akong pakialam kung gaano kahaba itong budget na i-aaprove namin kahit na ilang volume yan, basta disaggregated po yon at considered released document na rin sya para mabid out nyo na beginning this year, short of award para maabutan po ninyo yung summer months.

Alacala: Opo, salamat po.

Chiz: Last point, Mr. Secretary, kindly take note and instruct all of your attached agencies and corporations, nirereview din po namin sa ngayon yung CoA report, recommendations and observations sa bawat ahensiya, sa susunod po nating pagtatagpo sa budget hindi na ho kami papayag na winawalis lang sa ilalim ang findings ng CoA kung saan mayroon 90 recommendations 30 lamang yung may ginawang paraan, yung balanse wala. Kindly instruct all of your units to address these CoA findings. Magdemanda na kayo kung magdedemanda, kuwestiyunin nyo sa korte yung findings kung hindi kayo agree but definitely it cannot be left unanswered and cannot be left hanging. We will make sure to ask each and every recommendation and observation to be settled by the agency as well as all of your attached corporations. Sa susunod na po nating pagkikita yon, Mr. Secretary, hindi pa po ngayon.

Chiz: If there are no other questions from our colleagues, Senator Drilon.

Drilon: I so move that the budget of the Department be considered submitted and be favorably endorsed by the committee to the plenary session. So move.

Chiz: There is a motion, duly seconded, the same here is hereby approved subject to the submission of the documents and reports earlier required and requested and instructed by the members and the Chair, congratulations, Mr. secretary and congratulations to your family, good morning.

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