A Congress leader pushed for the enactment of a measure amending the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to pave the way for a P5 to P7 drop in the per kilo price of rice by early 2025.
“With rice accounting for a sizable share of the food expenses of Filipinos, most especially of poor or low-income families, the President’s issuance of EO (Executive Order) 62 that slashed the rice import tariff and his expected signing soon of the Congress-ratified proposed amendatory law to RA 11203 that empowers the government to better intervene in the market during abnormal price spikes, will make the staple more affordable and accessible for our consumers—and help take the edge off sticky inflation,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte was the author of both the RTL and the approved House Bill 10381, the amendatory measure.
He said he is confident President Marcos will soon sign it as both the House of Representatives and the Senate already ratified the measure amending the Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication before the session adjourned last month.
Once enacted, the government shall be allowed to intervene in the market during undue rice price hikes by importing rice and selling it at lower prices to consumers through Kadiwa stores nationwide.
“And once the proposed amendments to RTL are signed into law by the President, rice prices are likely to go down even further, possibly by as low as P5 to P7 per kilo by January next year, as projected by Agriculture Secretary Kiko (Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.),” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte said that the proposed amendments to the RTL include extending by six more years the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), which would expire this year under RA 11203, and tripling its annual budget from P10 billion to P30 billion for intervention programs to boost palay productivity and raise farmers’ incomes.
Of the allocation for RCEF, Villafuerte said P9 billion will be set aside for rice machinery and equipment; P6 billion for palay seed development, propagation, and promotion; and P15 billion for programs, projects, and activities enhancing productivity, strengthening supply resiliency, and dealing with food security emergencies arising from supply shortfalls or abrupt rice price spirals.
The amendatory measure mandates the Department of Agriculture (DA) to maintain a buffer fund for rice security emergencies, and to import rice through entities other than the National Food Authority (NFA).
Current stocks still held by the NFA can be sold only to government agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Office of Civil Defense-National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, local government units, and Kadiwa stores.
