Senate urged to pass rice tariffication bill

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate was urged yesterday to pass its version of the bill imposing tariffs on rice importation so it could soon become a law that could help bring down rice prices.

In making the appeal, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte reminded senators that the bill is a priority legislative measure of President Duterte.

“The Senate should pass it as soon as Congress reconvenes on Nov. 12. The prompt approval of the rice tariffication bill is the fastest way for both chambers of the Congress to help President Duterte tame inflation and ease its impact on consumers, most especially this coming holiday season,” he said.

Villafuerte said food expenses account for almost 10 percent of a family’s total spending.

The speedy approval of the rice tariffication measure would also go a long way in boosting palay (unhusked rice) productivity, which is a long-term approach to stabilizing the supply and price of the staple, because it provides for the establishment of a rice competitiveness enhancement fund to bankroll farm modernization and other projects, he said.

The solon said that under the bill, import tariffs would go to the fund, which the Department of Agriculture (DA) would use to provide for, among others,easy-to-access loans to farmers for production, inputs like fertilizer, postharvest facilities, and research and development.

Villafuerte is a co-author of the House of Representatives’ version of the rice tariffication bill, which the chamber already approved two months ago and transmitted to the Senate.

According to Senate agriculture committee chairperson Cynthia Villar, the numerous issues and concerns raised by her colleagues have delayed the approval of the lower chamber’s version of the bill.

In certifying the rice tariffication measure as urgent, the President cited the “urgent need to improve availability of rice in the country, prevent artificial rice shortage, reduce the prices of rice in the market and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel dominationin the rice industry.”