Speaker: House, Senate nearing agreement on RTL amendments

The House of Representatives and the Senate are close to making an agreement for the passage of the bill amending the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), Speaker Martin Romualdez said following his first official meeting with Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero.

“Ongoing po at mukhang nagkakasunduan na ang House at ang Senate at mukhang malapit na. Matatapos din at magkakaroon tayo ng magandang resolusyon,” Romualdez told reporters at an event in Quezon province.

(It’s ongoing and it looks like the House and the Senate are coming close to an agreement. It will be finished and we will have a good resolution.)

The proposed bill in the House authorizes the National Food Authority (NFA) to buy and sell rice in emergency cases and increases farmers' productivity aid to P15 billion.

Republic Act No. 11203 or the RTL, which took effect on March 5, 2019, replaced the quantitative restrictions on imported rice with tariffs of 35% to 40% and established the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) funded by the tariff revenues.

The RTL also limited the function of the NFA as a rice buffer stocking agency, ensuring emergency rice stocks exclusively procured from local palay growers.

Romualdez earlier said that the Senate under the leadership of Escudero is open to passing the bill amending the RTL.

During the event which was attended by local farmers, the Speaker mentioned the ongoing efforts to amend the RTL to provide further support to farmers and help consumers amid the high prices of commodities. He also said the House supports the NFA and its initiative to sell rice purchased directly from farmers to the public.

“Marami pa po tayong mga kasama sa adhikaing mapalago ang ating sektor ng agrikultura. Nariyan ang NFA na tinutulungan namin sa Kamara de Representantes na muling makapagbenta ng bigas na kanilang binili sa inyo direkta sa ating mga kababayan,” Romualdez said.

(We have the support of many when it comes to our goal of growing our agricultural sector. We are helping the NFA in the House of Representatives to be able to resell the rice they bought from farmers directly to the public.)—Giselle Ombay/RF, GMA Integrated News