Some 20 food passes were released by the Department of Agriculture (DA) MIMAROPA to Palawan entrepreneurs to ensure the uninterrupted transport of agricultural products and food supply within the province.
The agriculture department, in its Memorandum Circular No. 96, said they are continuously providing food passes to suppliers and trucks of food and agricultural products.
The 20 food passes given by DA MIMAROPA are part of the total 267 food passes released by Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD) on March 22.
According to the provincial officer of DA Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Vicente Binasahan, the 20 food passes are the initial passes released after the application started on Thursday, March 19.
“Wala itong limit (ang pag-release ng food pass), basta may gustong bumiyahe, biyahe. Ngayon ay may dagdag na more or less ay walo pero ang dami na bumiyahe muna sila kasi hindi naman pwede i-hold ‘yon, in line na sila ron sa checkpoint,” he said.
“Ang ginawa namin, nagpadala muna kami ng application forms sa munisipyo kung saan sila nanggaling at fill up’n nila. Kapag na-fill up’n na nila yon iyon ang parang pinaka (pass) ano nila habang wala pa kami na-i-issue na food pass,” he said.
The food pass is provided to entrepreneurs transporting food supply, livestock, and agricultural products such as inputs and sacks, and other materials used to produce food.
Binasahan estimates that around 50 entrepreneurs would avail of the food passes throughout the province within this week.
He said that the food passes are not limited to land transportation in mainland towns of Palawan but also include shipping agricultural products in town municipalities.
He added that there are no applicants yet from island municipalities.
“Yong mga nagta-transport ng food kahit wala pa yong kanilang pass ay in-allow na sila mag-travel provided na yong requirements ay na-comply na nila lahat,” he said.
“Kahit through e-mail na lang, halimbawa yong ibang munisipyo, kapag nag-comply sila ng requirements then ibabalik nila sa amin. Yong data ngayon na nakalagay ngayon sa kanilang requirements ay yon ang ilalagay namin sa food pass para yong control (number) namin sa food pass ay kami ang maglalagay,” he said.
He said that putting control numbers must become from DA provincial ACPC to avoid the uncontrollable reproduction of passes.
“Kaya ang naging instruction namin ay kahit wala pa yong food pass na na-issue namin gawa ng problema sa transmission, basta na-comply na yong requirements, go na. Kinabukasan na lang pagdaan dito sa office o kaya doon sa munisipyo nila, ipapadala namin ang food pass,” he said.
He said that there was one truck to transport vegetables on Monday morning that was barred from entering the checkpoint in Narra. He added that he coordinated with local Philippine National Police and the latter stressed that the transportation of agricultural products must not be hampered.
He said that even without food passes yet, the agricultural products could proceed in transporting provided that they have applied and complied with the needed requirements.
“Basta nakakapag-comply ng requirements, tuloy lang. Yong iba naman kasi ay may violation na ginagawa, yong ibang dumadaan ay expired yong kanilang OR and CR (official receipt and certificate of registration), violation talaga kaya di rin natin i-allow ‘yan,” he said.
He said that the application may be completed within 30 minutes upon complying with the requirements unless the internet problem occurred.
He added that even some towns have provided passes for transporting agricultural products, Binasahan stressed that they still need to acquire a food pass provided from DA.
DA explained that each food pass has different control numbers that is why each vehicle to be used to transport food supply and agricultural products must be registered with DA or to Municipal Agricultural Office (MAO) or could be in Provincial Agricultural Office.
The documents required for acquiring food pass are the following:
* Official Receipt of Registration and Certificate (OR/CR) of the vehicle
* Business Permit
* Filled Up Forms such as Foodlane Accreditation Application Form (Form A) and Foodlane Reference Form (Form B and “Statement of Commitment” (Form C).
Forms can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/3aYJkBQ and the required documents could be sent to amad4mimaropa@gmail.com
The food pass PDF format could also be printed after receiving from their email address.
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