Senator Cynthia A. Villar yesterday questioned calls to review the Rice Tarification Law (RTL), which liberalized the importation of rice.
Villar, the chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture and food, is the principal author of Republic Act 11203.
Several sectors earlier sought to repeal the law for failing to serve its purpose.
But Villar insisted that the RTL is working well, especially the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).
Reacting to tirades that it failed to lower the price of rice, Villar said the cost of producing palay in the Philippines is now pegged at P11.50 from P12.00 per kilo.
The PhilRice studies showed that producing palay in Vietnam costs P6.22 and P8.86 in Thailand.
She also attributed the increase in the cost of rice to the high price of fertilizers. Villar said this is the reason why she has been promoting the use of kitchen and garden wastes as organic fertilizers.
“You can solve (the high cost of fertilizers) by giving composting machine,” also said Villar as she related that majority of wastes in her hometown in Las Pinas are being turned into organic fertilizers and recycled into hard and sturdy school chairs,
According to the senator, the rice tariff liberalizes the importation of rice.
However, if the Department of Agriculture wants lesser importation, Villar said they should not issue import permits.
The RTL, signed in 2019, liberalized rice imports and imposed a tariff of 35 percent on imports from Southeast Asian countries whose proceeds provide funding for the RCEF to be used to help farmers modernize and improve productivity.
The RCEF covers the 42 inbred rice-producing provinces across the country, covering 656 municipalities.
Under the RCEF, P3 billion is set aside yearly for certified inbred seeds, at 40 kilogram per hectare, distributed for free, according to PhilRice.