Senator Lito Lapid has urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to immediately execute a “rescue-buy” scheme in Benguet and other farming provinces following reports that desperate local farmers were forced to discard unbought vegetables.
Lapid expressed dismay over reports of cabbage and carrots dumped along the Labey-Lacamen Road in Tublay, Benguet, as growers struggled to secure buyers amid the compounding effects of recent typhoons and the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat).
The senator, who is a farmer himself, called on Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to buy viable crops directly from affected farmers. He proposed distributing the salvaged produce to families displaced by recent weather disturbances in evacuation centers. For crops no longer fit for human consumption, Lapid urged the DA to explore converting them into livestock feed or agricultural inputs.
“Kahit papaano mapapakinabangan ang gulay ng mga nasalanta ng bagyo at habagat. Kung bibilhin ng D.A. ang mga gulay, malaking tulong din ito sa mga magsasaka sa Benguet para mabawi ang kanilang puhunan at gastusin sa pagtatanim at pag-aalaga ng mga gulay,” Lapid stated.
Under the proposed rescue-buy mechanism, the government collaborates with civic groups and non-government organizations to purchase surplus produce directly from farmers in Benguet, Cagayan Valley and other key agricultural hubs. Lapid emphasized that the swift intervention would prevent food waste while helping distressed farmers recoup their capital and production expenses.