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Rice tariffication bill rolls easily through House

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Since Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took the helm of the House of Representatives in July, the chamber has passed important bills that President Rodrigo Duterte has been pushing ever since he took office in July 2016.

Rice tariffication bill rolls easily through House

Barely a month into her term as the new Speaker, Arroyo led the House to approve on third and final reading House Bill 7735 that imposes tariffs on rice in place of import quotas.

Duterte, in his State of the Nation Address, certified the bill as urgent.

Economic managers earlier said rice tariffication was a vital measure to lower the price of rice and temper inflation, which peaked at a nine-year high of 6.7 percent in October.

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Duterte also said the measure would give additional resources for the farmers and reduce the price of rice by up to P7 per kilo.

National Economic and Development Authority director-general Ernesto Pernia said the approved measure would address not only the tariffication of rice in compliance with the Philippines’ obligation to the World Trade Organization but would also enhance food security by increasing the availability and accessibility of cheaper rice to the consuming population.

“The economic team has always been mindful that food remains to be the major contributor to inflation. Efforts to address food supply concerns, especially rice, will definitely help bring down consumer prices,” he said.

Neda’s preliminary estimate showed that headline inflation rate would ease by 1 percentage point if rice prices would be reduced to the level of imported rice. Even with just a P1 per kilo reduction in the wholesale price of rice, headline inflation rate would also be reduced by 0.3 percentage point, it said.

In November, the Senate, voting 14-0 approved, Senate Bill 1998 or the rice tariffication bill that seeks to amend RA 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996.

For months, higher food prices led by rice contributed largely to inflation that economic managers said likely peaked at 6.7 percent in October.

Rice tariffication bill rolls easily through House

The latest report from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that inflation in November eased significantly to 6 percent from 6.7 percent a month ago, pulled down by slower increases in food prices, particularly rice.

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