Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman noted that while the price of palay is decreasing, in part due to the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law, the cost of rice production remains high.

In light of plunging palay prices that have severely affected the income of farmers, a lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to exempt from taxes fertilizers and pesticides used in rice production.

Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, in House Bill 5450 said exempting from taxes fertilizers and pesticides will make them more affordable and enable farmers to earn a reasonable profit. The bill will be known as the “Farm Fertilizer and Pesticide Tax Exemption Act.”

Roman noted that while the price of palay is decreasing, in part due to the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), the cost of rice production remains high.

Roman cited the Philippine Statistics Authority data in August 2019 which states that there were notable increases in fertilizer prices in rice-producing regions such as Central Luzon, Western Visayas, Cagayan Valley and Bangsamoro Region.

“The combination of low palay price and high rice production cost has prevented farmers from earning a reasonable profit, scaling up rice production and honoring their loan commitments.”

“This in turn has forced farmers to seek alternative employment and dampened interest in farming, threatening in the long run the country’s rice industry and food security.”

Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. has filed a bill that would authorize the advance use of the Bureau of Customs (BoC) 2019 excess tariff revenues from rice importation as a special emergency fund for farmers.

According to Villafuerte, since the RTL took effect, BoC collection from the rice tariff hit P11.4 billion.

Thus, he said there is a P1.4 billion excess in revenues supposedly earmarked for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

RCEF, a component of the RTL aims to aid farmers in procuring rice farm machinery and provide credit assistance. It will have an annual appropriation of P10 billion, which is to be sourced from the tariff revenues collected by the BoC from rice imports.

Villafuerte’s House Bill 5529 proposes to immediately set up the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance as supplementary and transitional safety measure to serve as compensation to farmers who are farming two hectares and below.