HOUSE leaders have vowed the swift passage of two important bills—one that would promote food production through corporate farming and one that would impose higher penalties to hoarders of prime commodities—when Congress resumes session on April 21 to address the prolonged rice problem until 2010 as projected by the International Rice Research Institute (Irri).

Speaker Prospero Nograles and Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Abraham Mitra, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, said that as coauthors of the measures, they will be included in the House legislative priorities.

“The projection of the Irri, the world’s leading authority on rice, is really something that we should be worried about. We have to put the necessary safety nets to protect us from this prolonged global rice problem,” said Nograles.

Mitra, also one of the leading proponents of corporate farming, said that the twin proposals will not only lay down the necessary safety nets to dodge Irri’s rice scenario but would also provide a long-term formula to ensure food security.

“One bill promotes food production and the other adds more teeth to the present laws against hoarders who are also to be blamed for the rice problem. These two measures will hopefully provide us with a long-term formula in promoting food security,” Mitra said.

Under the bill titled “An Act Promoting Corporate Farming and Providing Incentives Thereof,” Nograles and Mitra seek to require the country’s most profitable corporations to engage in agricultural production to feed their own employees.

“In addition, corporations and other business entities shall be required to engage in corporate farming with rice as their primary crop. Vast tracks of unused public lands can be tapped for such corporate farms. Corporations can also enter into joint-venture agreements with farmer-beneficiaries of agrarian-reform communities. As such, employers will not only be able to feed their own employees, but will [also] ensure ample supply to local consumers,” the bill’s explanatory note said.

In order to encourage the participation of the country’s top corporations, the bill seeks to advance a two-pronged approach to facilitate policies related to corporate farming.

The first one involves the adjustment of the regulatory regime to reduce the transaction costs for stakeholders to enter in such contractual arrangements, and the second is to provide the right incentive environment to encourage corporate farming.

The regulatory adjustments to create a desirable policy environment for corporate farming include reducing or removing certain import taxes and lifting import restrictions, particularly on farm inputs. Moreover, government support to reduce transaction cost in drafting, negotiating and enforcing contracts is considered critical in creating the “right” contract environment, added the explanatory note.

The bill also provides that, “the national government shall appropriate 10 percent to 15 percent out of the total loanable funds of all locally based banks, both private and government-owned or -controlled and irrespective of size, to be utilized as source of financing for corporate farming.”

Together with the corporate farming bill is the measure titled “An Act Granting Reward For Persons Who Could Provide Information That Will Help In Identification Of Rice Hoarders, Recovery Of Hoarded Rice, And Prosecution Of Rice Hoarders.”

Under this proposal, which seeks to establish an effective whistle-blowing scheme against rice hoarders, whistle blowers of rice hoarding operations will be entitled to at least 10 percent of the goods recovered and confiscated by the National Food Authority.

The payment of the reward will be subject to certain conditions. These conditions include the information provided by the whistle blower being corroborated by material and physical evidence; and the information provided is substantial enough to ensure the recovery of the hoarded goods.

Teodoro, Esperon push pardon

DEFENSE Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Armed Forces chief of staff, would recommend to President Arroyo the granting of executive clemency to the nine junior officers who were convicted last week by the Regional Trial Court in Makati for coup d’état.

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Two explosions rocked this city early Sunday morning amid tight security as national games are being held here.
No casualties were reported.

HOG raisers criticized meat processors for their claims that the price of canned goods and processed meat products will increase by as much as 20 percent due to a new policy of the Department of Agriculture (DA) restricting importation of pork products.

HOUSE leaders have vowed the swift passage of two important bills—one that would promote food production through corporate farming and one that would impose higher penalties to hoarders of prime commodities—when Congress resumes session on April 21 to address the prolonged rice problem until 2010 as projected by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

With just one more day to go before the April 15 deadline for filing of income-tax returns (ITRs), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) had advised all electronic filers (e-filers) belonging to the Large Taxpayers Group and the top 10,000 under the revenue district offices (RDO) to declare their true income for 2007 and refrain from making “No-Payment” or “No-Operation” declarations in their returns; otherwise, they face stiff penalties and possible criminal charges for tax evasion.