Villar to critics of Rice Tariffication: Stop ‘wishful thinking’ on repealing it

Senate committee on agriculture chairperson Cynthia Villar on Monday said the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) is here to stay and repealing it is not on the table.

During a Senate hearing on the proposed P86.3-billion budget of the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies for 2021, Villar said that rice traders are badmouthing the law, which imposes a 35% tariff on rice imports from neighbors in Southeast Asia.

"Ang nagsasabi na mura [ang presyo ng palay] ay 'yung mga trader para i-repeal 'yung RTL. Eh ngayon, sinasabi ko sa inyo, hindi na mare-repeal ang RTL na 'yan," the senator who sponsored the law said.

"Pagbutihin na lang natin ang trabaho natin. Walang magmo-move na i-repeal ang RTL... Mayroon tayong commitment sa WTO (World Trade Organization) na we will open the importation of rice with tariff. And that has been postponed for a very long period of time kaya ngayon hindi na talaga pwedeng i-postpone," she added.

The Rice Tariffication Law, which allowed the unlimited importation of rice in the Philippines by removing all quantitative restrictions, was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in February 2019.

A few months later, palay prices in the country plunged to P7-P10 per kilo.

Villar said the goal of the law is make the local rice farmers competitive and eventually help them achieve lower input costs in the production of rice through mechanization and use of better seeds through the funds that will be raised from import duties.

"Sa Vietnam, P6 per kilo ang puhunan nila ng palay. 'Yung Thailand P8 per kilo... Kaya tayo nagwo-work this next six years para ma-attain man lang natin yung P8. Walang repeal 'yan kaya tigilan niyo na 'yang wishful thinking niyo na repeal," she said.

The senator appealed to the DA and its attached agencies to help the rice farmers in the meantime so they can sell their produce at higher prices.

She said the National Food Authority and the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization shall ensure that farmers have access to drying facilities.

"Mag-drying kayo, tulungan mo ang farmer kasi nakita mo sa presyo kapag basa [ang palay], ang mura-mura... Nakita natin ang presyo P12, parang pareho ng kanilang puhunan," Villar said.

"Kaya kailangan mag-dry para mabili nang mahal. Para naman kumita 'yung farmer, nang hindi complain nang complain," she added.

During the same hearing, Villar urged the Bureau of Plant Industry not to issue import permits for rice and corn before and during the harvest season.

She added that all the surplus from the P10-billion annual Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund—established through collection of rice import tariffs—shall be earmarked as direct cash assistance for rice farmers until 2025. — BM, GMA News