The National Food Authority, one of the victims of the Rice Tariffication Law which relegated it to a mere rice buffer stocking agency, must be reactivated and its role expanded to cover the trading and export of Philippine Agriculture and Marine Products.
Sa Vietnam, India at iba pang mga bansa, meron silang mga ahensya na tumutulong sa pag-promote at pag-export ng mga agricultural products nila.
Dito sa atin sa Pilipinas, bahala na ang magsasaka na maghanap ng merkado ng kanyang produkto na para bang ang motto natin ay: “Produkto Mo, Bahala Ka Maghanap Ng Pagbebentahan Mo.”
The lack of access to the market results in local agri producers falling victims to traders and middlemen.
The perfect example of this would be the independent and small Cavendish Banana producers of Mindanao who had been exploited by dicers and seasonal buyers from overseas.
Hindi lang mura ang bili ng kanilang mga produkto, minsan, nadedenggoy pa at hindi nababayaran.
Not many people know this, but the NFA is the only trading agency of the Philippine government recognized by the World Trade Organization.
Nang maipasa ang RTL, ginawa na lamang ang NFA na buffer stocking agency at may gusto pang buwagin ito dahil ito daw ay corrupt na ahensya.
Sa totoo lang, kung ang ating basehan sa pagbuwag ng mga ahensya ng gobyerno ay ang talamak na korupsyon, aba marami tayong mga opisina na dapat mas maunang buwagin kaysa NFA.
Remember this, corruption involves people running the agency or in the agency, not the agency itself and corruption could be addressed by strict enforcement and impartial implementation of the law.
Sayang ang NFA.
Kung maibalik natin at mapalawak ang coverage nito bilang trading agency, hindi na magkakaproblema ang magsasaging at iba pang mga magsasaka na puedeng ma-export ang kanilang mga produkto.
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