Isabela 3rd District Rep. Napoleon S. Dy on Tuesday urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to work with the Department of Agriculture (DA), local government units (LGUs), and rice farmers to come up with a “workable compromise” that will allow farmers to use roads to dry their palay while government works to provide them with post-harvest facilities.
“With rice prices going up and improving rice supplies becoming one of the country’s most urgent needs, now is not the time to punish our rice farmers for doing their jobs,” said Dy, whose home province, Isabela, is the second highest rice producer in the country.
According to Dy, “agriculture is the biggest industry in Isabela. We are the top producers of corn and every year we produce 15 percent of the Philippines’ total rice output.”
“These are stop-gap measures that we can adopt while government works to provide our rice farmers with the post-harvest facilities they need.”
“Thus, you can understand why we value our rice farmers and recognize their role in ensuring the food security of our country. They do this and earn so little for their hard work,” lamented the solon, who is running for Isabela governor in the May 2019 midterm polls.
“Maliit na nga kita nila, ifa-fine pa sila. Bugbog na nga sila sa bagyo, parang inaapi pa sila ng gobyerno. Kailangang natin gawan ng paraan yan.”
(They don’t earn much, now they will be fined. They have already suffered from typhoons, now it’s like they are being oppressed by the government. We have to find some way to make this work.)
In September, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Isabela officially passed a resolution declaring the province under a “state of calamity” due to agriculture damage left by Typhoon “Ompong.” Damage to rice production in Isabela was estimated at close to P2 billion.
“Sana imbes na i-fine sila o sitahin sila ng DPWH eh magtulungan na lang lahat para magamit nila ang mga roads while ensuring the safety of motorists. Proper road signs should be put in place, and the lanes can be properly apportioned so that they are still passable,” suggested the third-term legislator.
“You can understand why we value our rice farmers and recognize their role in ensuring the food security of our country.”
Last week, the DPWH reminded rice farmers that drying their palay on national roads was against the law and punishable by a P1,000 fine and even jail time.
Dy urged the DPWH “to try to understand where our farmers our coming from.”
“Kulang talaga ang post-harvest facitilies natin at wala talaga silang alternatibo sa ngayon. (We really lack post-harvest facilities and they have no alternatives right now.) They have been doing this––drying their palay on roads––for generations, so many of them really don’t know any other way of doing it,” explained Dy.
“These are stop-gap measures that we can adopt while government works to provide our rice farmers with the post-harvest facilities they need. While we work on the long-term solutions, magtulungan muna tayo (let’s all help each other).”
