Liberal rice import to ease prices

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Bill aimed at ensuring suffient rice supply and ease prices. contributed photo

The bill liberalizing rice importation has been signed into law, effectively removing quantitative restrictions and allowing businesses and individuals to purchase the grain from sources outside the country and pay a tariff of 40 percent to make it more affordable for the consumers.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo confirmed the news via a text message to reporters Friday night.

Proceeds from rice tariffication will be used to help fund programs intended for farmers like mass irrigation, rice storage and research initiatives.

The new law allocates at least P10-billion to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. This will help rice farmers in terms of improved machinery and equipment, seed production, training and avail of a streamlined loan program.

It will also complement other mitigation measures the government, particularly its economic cluster, has put in place to further arrest the impact of inflation to benefit low-income households.

President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent the Rice Tariffication Bill last October 2018 following a surge in price of the food commodity and “to address the urgent need to improve availability of rice in the country, to prevent artificial rice shortage, reduce the prices of rice in the market and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel domination in the rice industry.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Cynthia Villar, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food — lauded the passage of the said bill into law.

“We thank and laud the President for signing into law the bill creating a package of support programs for farmers, most notably the P10 billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund,” she said in a statement.

The senator, who is also the sponsor and principal author of the bill, said the measure would earmark P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, of which P5 billion will be allotted for farm mechanization and P3 billion for seedlings.

The fund intends to ensure that rice imports will not drown out the agriculture sector and rob farmers of their livelihood.

“With the expiration of the quantitative restriction on rice importation, this is a very important piece of legislation, which will help our farmers improve their profitability and competitiveness,” Villar said.

“This law complements other government programs addressing the needs of the farming sector, including the P7-billion rice program under the Department of Agriculture and the P7 billion budget of the National Food Authority which will be used to buy palay from local farmers for purposes of buffer stocking,” she added.

Duterte’s approval of the measure came days after he met with rice industry organizations opposed to its enactment. Panelo said the President defended the measure.

In endorsing the bill, Duterte told Congress last year of the “urgent need to improve availability of rice in the country, prevent artificial rice shortage, reduce the prices of rice in the market and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel domination in the rice industry.”

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said last week the President believed “in giving what is best for the greatest number of Filipinos.”