Guidelines for the Accreditation of Farmers Cooperative and Associations as Beneficiaries of Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund or Rice Fund

September 18, 2019

DA ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 09, S. 2019

 

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 11203, "An Act Liberalizing the Importation, Exportation and Trading of Rice, Lifting for the Purpose the Quantitative Import Restriction on Rice and for Other Purposes" has created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund to support the objectives and plans of the rice industry roadmap as government and implementation principles provided under the Section 15 of this Act; aScITE

WHEREAS, Section 13 of RA 11203 states that Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) or Rice Fund shall consist of an annual appropriation of Ten billion pesos (P10,000,000,000.00) for the next six (6) years following the approval of the act;

WHEREAS, Section 13 (a) to (d) of RA 11203 states that Rice Fund shall be allocated and disbursed to rice producing areas as follows: (a) Rice Farm Machineries and Equipment (50%) by Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech); (b) Rice Seed Development, Propagation and Development (30%) by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice); (c) Expanded Rice Credit Assistance (10%) by Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP); and (d) Rice Extension Services (10%) by Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) PhilMech and PhilRice;

WHEREAS, Rules 13.16.1, 13.17, 13.18 and 13.21 of Section 13 of RA 11203 states that the respective implementing agencies (IAs) shall formulate implementing guidelines consistent with the Rice Industry Roadmap subject for review of the Program Steering Committee (PSC) and shall be approved by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for Seeds and Mechanization Components and by the PSC for Extension and Credit Components;

WHEREAS, Section 14 of RA 11203 states that the beneficiaries of the Rice Fund shall be those farmers and farmworkers and their dependents listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) and rice cooperatives and associations accredited by the Department of Agriculture (DA);

I, THEREFORE, WILLIAM D. DAR, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, do hereby issue the following guidelines for the Accreditation of Farmers Cooperatives and Associations (FCAs) as RCEF beneficiaries.

ARTICLE I

Objectives, Definition of Terms and Eligible Farmers Cooperative and Associations (FCAs)

SECTION 1. Objectives. —

1.1 Establish the procedure for the accreditation of FCAs by the DA in order to benefit the assistance that will be provided under the RCEF;

1.2 Encourage people's participation, hasten and improve public-private partnership in agricultural development based on the principle of good governance primarily among others on the safeguard use and allocation of the government resources and ensuring efficient and effective program implementation;

1.3 Ensure that farmers and farmworkers listed in the RSBSA and DA accredited FCAs can participate in the implementation of RCEF;

1.4 Establish and maintains a national registry of accredited FCAs at the DA system; and

1.5 Guarantee compliance to existing pertinent laws, rules and regulations.

SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. —

2.1 ACCREDITATION — refers to the process by which the DA shall issue a certificate that will officially recognized and authorized a FCAs as eligible beneficiary of DA Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund.

2.2 FARMERS COOPERATIVE AND ASSOCIATIONS (FCAs) — a group of individuals, who have undergone social preparation duly registered by any recognized government agencies with at least 75% of its members are engaged in agriculture related activities.

2.3 ACCREDITED FARMER COOPERATIVES AND ASSOCIATIONS — a FCA that has been issued a Certificate of Accreditation, included in the Registry of Accredited FCAs, and is eligible as beneficiary to the various interventions under the RCEF.

2.4 NATIONAL REGISTRY OF ACCREDITED FCAs — a list of FCAs duly accredited by DA to be published in the DA website.

2.5 SOCIAL PREPARATION — the process followed by the Guidelines of Accreditation by the Commission on Audit and Department of Budget and Management, as described and contained in its manual and guidelines, to prepare individual beneficiaries to become responsible implementers of government programs and projects; it must include activities to (i) identify, analyze and prioritize needs, and identify solutions to address needs, (ii) prepare proposals, studies and technical designs and financial plans, (iii) form committees and task groups, and (iv) build capacity and capability to undertake the project activities. HEITAD

SECTION 3. Eligible Farmers Cooperative and Associations (FCAs). —

The following entities can apply for DA accreditation:

3.1 Duly registered Farmer Organizations/Farmers Associations;

3.2 Duly registered Irrigators Associations/SWISAs/ARBOs;

3.3 Government Organized NGOs/POs accredited by RFOs;

3.4 Agriculture-based Multi-Purpose Cooperatives.

ARTICLE II

Creation and Functions of the Regional Technical Committee and Secretariat for Accreditation

SECTION 1. Creation of Technical Committee and Secretariat. —

1.1. A Regional Technical Committee and Secretariat shall be created by the Regional Executive Director with the following composition:

 

Chairperson	-	RTD for Operations
Vice Chairperson	-	RTD for Research and Regulatory
Members	-	DA RFO FOD Chief
	-	DA RFO RAED Chief
	-	DA RFO PMED Chief
	-	PhilMech Regional Center Chief/Representative 1
	-	PhilRice Regional Center Chief/Representative 1
	-	Other members as may be designated by the Regional Executive Director
Secretariat	-	DA RFO Field Operations Division

 

SECTION 2. Functions of the Regional Technical Committee for Accreditation. —

2.1. Implement policies relative to the accreditation of beneficiary FCAs;

2.2. Review and evaluate the qualification documents submitted by the FCAs; and

2.3. Recommend qualified FCAs to the Regional Executive Director for accreditation and consequently the issuance of Certificate of Accreditation.

SECTION 3. Functions of the Regional Secretariat. —

3.1. Initial review of documentary requirements submitted by the FCAs as to the completeness and authenticity;

3.2. Provide administrative support during conduct of meetings including the preparation of highlights/minutes of the meetings;

3.3. Coordinate with appropriate DA and other National Government Offices on matters relating to the technical requirements of the accreditation process;

3.4. Prepare and release certificate of accreditation; and

3.5. Perform other tasks as may be assigned by the RTC.

ARTICLE III

Documentary Requirements and Processes of FCAs

SECTION 1. Documentary Requirements for Accreditation. —

1.1 General Documentary Requirements

1.1.1 Letter of Intent;

1.1.2 Valid certificate/registration from any recognized government agency;

1.1.3 Farmer Association Profile (List of officers and association members with corresponding home and farm location address);

1.1.4 Omnibus Sworn Statement (Annex B); and

1.1.5 Municipal Agriculture and Fishery Council (MAFC) or LGU endorsement (may or may not be required by the RTC for further verification).

SECTION 2. Accreditation Processes (Seven (7) days after the submission of complete documents from the FCA applicant). —

2.1 FCAs to submit letter of intent and documentary requirements to the Accreditation Secretariat;

2.2 Secretariat to check the application form, as well as the completeness and validity of requirements submitted by the FCA upon submission;

2.3 Evaluation shall include authenticating documents submitted by the Applicant through confirmation with regulatory agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA);

2.4 The Technical Committee shall give full faith and credence to, and rely on, documents authenticated to have been issued by other GAs. The veracity of the statements and accuracy of the information in such authenticated documents shall be the responsibility of the respective GAs that issued the same and not of the Accreditation Committee;

2.5 The application of the FCA shall be forwarded to the Technical Committee for review and evaluation. If the FCA meets all of the criteria set forth above, the DA Regional Executive Director shall, upon the recommendation of the Technical Committee, approve the application and issue a Certificate of Accreditation in favor of the Applicant. If the FCA fails to meet the requirements, the Secretariat will notify in writing the FCA on the denial of its application including its cause; and ATICcS

2.6 Copy of list of accredited FCAs shall be forwarded to the implementing agency as requirement for the provision of RCEF assistance and to the DA-Field Operations Service for consolidation and posting to the DA website.

ARTICLE IV

Duration and Validity of Certificate of Accreditation

The accreditation shall be effective and valid for a period of three (3) years subject for renewal.

ARTICLE V

Continuing Verification, Reporting and Revocation

Spot Checks. After the issuance of the Certificate of Accreditation, but within the period of validity of the same, the DA may conduct unannounced spot checks to validate the veracity of any statement or information contained in any document that the Applicant submitted in support of its application and the maintenance of the RCEF assistance.

In the event that the DA found out that there has been a misrepresentation, or falsification of any document submitted in support of the application for the accreditation, their accreditation shall be revoked. Re-application for accreditation shall be done a year after the date of revocation.

ARTICLE VI

Special Provision

All FCAs accredited by DA as CSO co-implementer of agri-fishery programs are deemed RCEF accredited until the expiration of their accreditation.

The DA Secretary, upon the recommendation of DA-RFOs thru the Regional Executive Directors, may issue supplemental guidelines on a case to case basis as it may deem necessary and appropriate to effectively implement these Guidelines. Provided, that it would be consistent to these Guidelines and other pertinent laws and issuances.

ARTICLE VII

Effectivity

This order shall take effect immediately from the date of publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. The UP Law Center's Office of the National Administrative Register shall be provided copy of this order.

Issued this 18th day of September 2019, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

(SGD.) WILLIAM D. DAR

Secretary

ANNEX A

Documents Required for Application for Accreditation

 

ANNEX B

Omnibus Sworn Statement

 

Footnotes

1. PhilRice and PhilMech without Regional Center in a particular Region, the designated member shall come from the concerned Regional Center that has supervision over them.