Cynthia Villar: NFA can still sell cheaper rice

MANILA, Philippines — The National Food Authority (NFA) will still be able to sell cheap rice even with the looming enactment into law of the Rice Tariffication bill, Sen. Cynthia Villar said yesterday.

Villar, chair of the Senate agriculture committee and principal sponsor of the Rice Tariffication bill, was disputing Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol’s claim earlier this week that the NFA will no longer be able to sell rice at P27 per kilo once the measure is signed into law.

Since the NFA will not be allowed to import rice but instead be mandated to buy the grain from local farmers, the agency would be selling the staple at higher prices, Piñol said.

“President Duterte said that even with rice tariffication and liberalization of the rice industry, the NFA shall continue to provide the public, particularly the less fortunate, with rice that is affordable and safe,” Villar said.

“Once the law is passed, the NFA will be directed to buy palay from our local farmers and together with the Department of Agriculture to focus on developing a cost-efficient system that will help reduce the production cost of locally-produced rice and stabilize rice prices,” she said.

The bill also mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development to grant rice subsidies amounting to P28 billion that would be bought from the local farmers.

The quantitative restriction on importation of rice by the Philippines allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) expired last June 30, 2017 so the country has to liberalize the importation of the staple.

Congress passed the Rice Tarification bill seeking to protect Filipino farmers from influx of imported rice once the law takes effect.

The tariff will be 35 percent on rice imports from countries belonging to ASEAN and 50 percent from the rest of the world. 

Villar noted the proceeds from the tariff will be given to the farmers in the amount of P10 billion a year for the next six years to make the farmers competitive through mechanization, better seed production, cheaper credit from the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, and various training programs.

Other senators earlier rebuffed Piñol on his claim and expressed suspicion that individuals behind the so-called rice cartel are making a last-ditch effort to prevent the bill from being signed into law as it seeks to clip the powers of the NFA that apparently is under their influence.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said the bill was also meant to allow “competitors” for NFA as the agency “has gotten too complacent – to put it mildly – given its monopoly power to import rice.”

“The NFA slept on the job so Congress took a radical step to wake up the NFA to the truth,” Pimentel said.

Sen. Francis Escudero said the provisions on safeguard and assistance to farmers should be given equal importance since ensuring rice supply at affordable prices is always a balancing act. 

Meanwhile, the NFA has collected P11 million in fines from retailers and traders this year amid intensified rice and market monitoring activities.

The grains agency said it has apprehended about 8,800 grains businessmen for various violations, yielding the NFA total collection of P10.78 million from fines for 2018.

NFA officer-in-charge administrator Tomas Escarez said the NFA has inspected more than 160,000 business establishments, resulting in the increased number of apprehended erring rice traders.

He added that NFA’s intensified enforcement activities not only prevented illegal activities but also helped stabilize the price of rice in the market. – With Louise Maureen Simeon