LAWMAKERS yesterday urged the Senate to approve the bill seeking amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), saying the House of Representatives’ communication lines remain open to answer their concerns since many senators are not keen on approving the Palace-backed measure.
Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Rep. Mikaela Suansing, one of the authors of House Bill No. 10381 which the House approved on second reading late Tuesday afternoon, appealed to senators to give the bill a chance to lower the price of rice.
“Please, please, please and our communication lines are open. We are here, anything we can do for us to work together, to craft the best version of the bill. Our communication lines are open,” Suansing told a joint press conference with fellow lawmakers. “From our side, we have been working very hard on the part of the House, we held marathon hearings, and deliberations in the plenary, so that the debates would be finished.”
The House intends to approve the bill on third reading before adjourning next week.
Suansing said that as a representative of Nueva Ecija, the country’s rice granary, she is confident the proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, would give the poorest of the poor access to the staple.
The bill seeks to amend Republic Act 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act, as amended by RA 11203.
HB 10381 seeks to give the National Food Authority (NFA) the temporary authority to stabilize the price and supply of rice during food security emergencies as granted by the Agriculture Secretary. It allows NFA to sell subsidized rice during emergencies like shortages.
Another was the authority of the NFA to oversee and ensure compliance of all grain warehouses, and will likewise be given the task to regulate foreign investments in the rice and corn industries.
Once the measure is enacted into law, it would also extend the P15-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) for another six years, with its mechanization component expanded to include the construction and enhancement of post-harvest and processing facilities.
Deputy Speaker David Suarez of Quezon also urged the Senate to act on the bill, which provides safety nets to stabilize rice prices and ensures the viability of the local rice industry.
With rice prices steadily increasing, he said there is a need for government intervention to curb excessive hikes.
“Ngayon, kung walang government intervention tayong gagawin (Now, if there will be no government intervention,) that will serve as some sort of competition to the traders and the importers of rice. There won’t be a regulatory function or a balancing activity to be done by the government,” he told the same press conference.
Some senators are opposed to the bill due to concerns about the NFA regaining authority to sell and import rice, citing past issues of corruption.
Last Monday, Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, said the majority of senators are not keen on approving the proposal to allow the NFA to import rice.
Villar said the primary mandate of the NFA is to buy rice from local farmers to ensure the availability of rice stocks across the country. She said the agency has a P9 billion budget for this purpose.
While acknowledging concerns about corruption within the NFA, Suarez urged senators not to lose sight of the primary objective, which is ensuring food security and affordable rice prices for all Filipinos.
“I totally understand where the senators are coming from given the recent reputation of certain NFA officials, but let’s not forget this is not an issue of corruption but rather an issue of food security and price of rice,” Suarez said.
Further addressing allegations of corruption and anomalies within the NFA, Suarez expressed confidence in the government’s ability to investigate and prosecute wrongdoings.
Also yesterday, the House had to remand HB 10381 to the plenary after Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo asked that Page 8, which tackles the excess in annual tariff revenues generated from rice importation, be amended.
“On page 8, delete lines 16 to 18 and in lieu thereof, put after the words ‘shall be earmarked by Congress and included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of the following year’,” Quimbo said. “The paragraph shall now read as, ‘Provided, furthermore, that if the annual tariff revenues from rice importation exceeds P15 billion in any given year, within a six-year period following the effectivity of this act, the excess tariff revenues shall be earmarked by Congress and included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of the following year.’”
