Rice tariffication bill seen OKd by early Dec
Despite opposition from industry groups, Sen. Cynthia Villar is optimistic the bill that is expected to bring down rice prices in the market will be signed into law by President Duterte next month.
The Rice Tariffication Bill, which was passed in the Senate two months after the House approved its own version, will effectively deregulate the rice industry. Economic managers said this law would result in the decline in rice prices by as much as P7 a kilo.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Rise’s gala and photo exhibit on Monday night, Villar said the bicameral committee was aiming to pass both the rice tariffication and coco levy fund bills before the legislative chambers take their break on the second week of December.
“I don’t want to predict what will happen in the bicam because there’s another version in the House but I’m sure we can do it,” said Villar, who is also chair of the Senate committee on agriculture and food.
The committee will thresh out the details of the bill before sending it to the Office of the President for approval.
The lawmaker’s optimism was apparent even when the Senate version of the bill was criticized by numerous groups—including the Department of Agriculture’s own council—since it removed the need to license would-be importers and directed the annual P10-billion fund to smaller agencies under DA.
Under the Senate version of the bill, the fund that will be coming from the collected import duties will be directed to the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).
Villar noted that based on the chamber’s study, local farmers were not competitive against their peers in neighboring countries due to lack of mechanization and the inaccessibility of good seeds.
However, PCAF convenor and executive director of Centro Saka Inc. Omi Royandoyan said removing the licensing power of the NFA would breed corruption to the rice trade since there would be no one to regulate the industry, while redirecting billions of pesos to PhilRice and PhilMech was not advisable since both agencies didn’t have the capacity to absorb huge funds.
“We are in consultation with the rice farmers and they are panicking … the Senate version may be detrimental to the rice industry,” he said.
Rice tariffication is among the Duterte administration’s priority measures, especially after rice prices recently soared by as much as 20 percent due to tight supply and high fuel prices.
