House assures no corruption in new rice law

House leaders assured they will come up with proactive measures to make sure there will be no corruption in the proposed amendments to Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

Assistant Majority Leader Mikaela Suansing said the House is serious in its bid to amend the law, giving it enough safety nets to protect it from corruption.

Suansing is the principal author of House Bill 212 that aims to modify Section 13 of the RTL to lift the quantitative import restrictions on rice and reinstate the regulatory functions of the National Food Authority (NFA).

“We see a way that we can restore the mandate of the NFA to sell rice directly in the market and at the same time we can limit it in such a way that it is not prone to corruption,” Suansing told the media in a press conference on Thursday.

“There are many ways to hold the NFA accountable. Now that we will introduce the amendments, we can craft the provision itself and the implementing rules and regulations such that the access of the NFA will be limited in the parts of the processes that may solicit corruption on their part.”

Suansing’s remarks were in response to a recent statement of Senator Cynthia Villar, who was apparently against the revival of the NFA’s primary mandate to participate in the domestic rice market.

Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture, cited previous instances in which the NFA was embroiled in corruption scandals regarding rice importation.

Assistant Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre, however, countered that putting an end to the corruption allegations hounding the NFA should not be at the expense of the underprivileged.

“Whatever policy or law needs to be amended to promote and make this happen, if it is corruption, maybe the solution is not to prevent the opportunity of our poor countrymen to have food or access to cheap rice,” Acidre said in the same news briefing.

Acidre said there are more effective mechanisms to reduce corruption, as indicated by Villar, than taking away the free pass of the vulnerable sector to the staple food, which would only be made possible if the NFA would be allowed to buy and sell rice directly in the market again.

The House Committee on Agriculture and Food has been holding marathon hearings on bills aiming to amend, if not repeal, RA 11203 in light of the skyrocketing price of rice, currently pegged at P55.12 and P49.44 for local premium and well-milled, respectively.

On Tuesday, Speaker Martin Romualdez said the House amendments to the RTL will lower the cost of the staple grain by at least P10 or P15 per kilo, hopefully by June.

The House is set to pass the measure before Congress adjourns on 24 May, according to Romualdez.

In early April, the Department of Agriculture announced that the price of rice would remain high until July due to the impact of El Niño, which is expected to persist until May.

The House, meanwhile, said that allowing the NFA to regain its market dominance would drive down the cost of commercial rice with an increase in competition in the market.

Suansing said reinstating the NFA’s mandate would also help the country combat inflation since rice inflation is the primary driver of the increase in the prices of goods and services.

Enacted in February 2019 during the Duterte administration, the RTL prohibits the NFA from directly selling its stocks in the market and restricts its function to stocking palay or grain to be sold only during calamities.

The same law also removed the NFA’s powers to regulate the rice sector, license market players, inspect warehouses, and track stock movements while liberalizing rice importation.