RTL amendments needed to beat target P20/kilo rice — Rep. Tulfo

Despite the expanding coverage of Kadiwa centers, which sell low-priced but quality rice for as low as P29, House Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo on Thursday stressed the necessity of amending the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to further lower the cost of the staple grain to P20 per kilo.

According to Tulfo, the Senate must still pass the counterpart of House Bill 10381, seeking to modify the RTL or the Republic Act 11203, which the House of Representatives already approved in May, notwithstanding the government's ongoing efforts to sell affordable rice.

"The RTL is not just the lowering of rice prices, it also includes the ongoing aid to farmers, as well as the taxes on the importation of rice. Everything is included in the package. So, let's continue. We have to do that until we beat the [P20] target," Tulfo told reporters in an interview.

"Hopefully [the Senate] can approve that as soon as possible because the people need it [so] that we can avail cheap rice," he added.

The House leadership is keen that amending the five-year-old RTL will drive down the cost of rice, which has soared as high as P60 per kilo in recent months.

They firmly believe that this could be achieved by reinstating the National Food Authority's (NFA) regulation and importation functions, including its price stabilization and supply regulation, which were all stripped to the agency pursuant to the RTL's enactment in 2019.

Moreover, House leaders are convinced that allowing the NFA to enter domestic markets anew will spark increased competition with commercial traders, which would shrink the skyrocketing price of rice.

However, Senator Cynthia Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Food and Agriculture, vehemently opposed the House's proposal, citing previous corruption scandals of the NFA involving rice importation.

Earlier this month, the Department of Agriculture launched a P29 rice program in selected Kadiwa stores in Metro Manila and Bulacan as part of the government's effort to provide the vulnerable sectors access to cheap rice.

The program, however, has been strictly limited to targeted beneficiaries, such as senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents, and beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).

However, Tulfo lamented that the government must be square and that sale of low-priced rice must be accessible to all sectors regardless of their social status.

"What about us ordinary people who are not PWD or senior citizens or single parents? We also need to reap the benefit," the lawmaker.

Nonetheless, Tulfo said the House leadership is currently studying providing a rice subsidy for Filipinos so that everyone would have a free pass to affordable rice.