A bill aimed at amending Republic Act 11203, or Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), to curb the skyrocketing rice price, hurdled the second reading in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

House Bill (HB) 10381, approved via viva voce or voice vote, seeks to reinstate some primary functions of the National Food Authority (NFA), including its price stabilization and supply regulation, which were stripped to the agency after RTL's enactment in 2019.

If enacted, the NFA will be allowed to use its buffer stocks to supply areas where there is a rice shortage, sustained increase, or extraordinary increase in the cost of rice.

This condition falls under food security emergency, which the Department of Agriculture secretary may declare upon the recommendation of the National Price Coordinating Council and Local Price Coordinating Council.

The country could only resort to rice importation if no local stocks from the NFA were available in times of food security emergency.

The amendments also seek to revive NFA's warehouse registration and monitoring powers "to ensure compliance with all pertinent standards and regulations, leveraging its established expertise and nationwide network to uphold the national interest in rice buffer stocking and food security."

House leaders are keen that amending the RTL, which would permit NFA anew to enter the domestic rice market, will drive down the cost of rice, currently pegged at P60.81 and P51.63 for local special and well-milled, respectively.

Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said that the House amendments to the RTL will shrink the cost of the staple grain by at least P10 or P15 per kilo, nearing the P30 per kilogram mark.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture, has expressed strong objection to the House proposal.

Villar said that the "majority" of the senators are also against reinstating NFA's regulatory and import licensing functions, citing previous instances in which the agency was embroiled in various corruption scandals regarding rice importation.

House leaders have vowed to provide the proposed law with enough safety nets to ensure that the NFA has limited access to corruption.