MANILA, Philippines — With at least P3.6 billion worth of rice wasted annually, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is pushing for the revival of a proposed measure mandating restaurants, hotels, canteens and eateries to serve half-cup of rice.
At a press conference, Agriculture Assistant Secretary and spokesman Arnel de Mesa yesterday noted that President Marcos himself was a proponent of half-rice servings during his stint at the Senate.
“For the record, the secretary wants to revive a bill offering half-cup of rice. In the 16th Congress, President Marcos filed such a bill when he was a senator,” De Mesa said.
He added that Tiu Laurel is ready to assist lawmakers in crafting the proposed measure.
“The secretary is really interested in helping revive and craft a new bill that hopefully will cater to the possibility of offering (half-cup of rice) as an option. At present, it is better if it will become an option, but of course, we defer to the legislators what could be the best scenario for this bill,” De Mesa said.
He cited the study of the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute which showed that in 2019, at least nine grams of rice was wasted by each Filipino.
“That’s practically equivalent to two tablespoons but the 2019 (statistics) was old data. It dropped to 6.4 grams. The rice wastage (may have) decreased, but still, that translates to about 255,000 metric tons (MT) of rice wastage every year,” he added.
The country’s daily requirement of rice is pegged at 37,000 MT, according to the DA official.
“It will be a big help if half-cup rice service will be implemented to lessen the rice wastage of Filipinos,” he said.
He maintained the half-cup of rice serving will only be an option to the customers.
“The same choice should be accorded to those who want to avail the half-rice, although it is not mandatory but optional. If you serve one cup of rice and there will be leftovers, that is automatic wastage, not unlike if there is an opportunity to offer a half-cup of rice,” he explained.
A total of P1.6 billion in savings could be incurred if the government cuts the annual rice wastage to half, according to De Mesa.
The Philippine Rice Research Institute in 2023 also pushed for a half-cup rice law to avoid rice wastage.
Rice smuggling
A farmers’ group yesterday said that rice smuggling and hoarding have increased as the organization pushed for the review of Executive Order 62, which lowered the tariff on imported staple food to 15 percent from the previous 35 percent.
AGAP party-list Rep. Nicanor Briones said EO 62 failed to reduce the retail price of rice in the markets.
“EO 62 has a lot of loopholes, including its failure to control smuggling. It was implemented without consultations with farmers and fishermen,” he said.
The representative added that EO 62 allowed traders to import unlimited volumes of the staple, enabling unscrupulous businessmen to under-declare their imports and smuggle the rest of the product.
He added that the government has lost at least P12 billion in revenues because of EO 62 and the funding under the Rice Tariffication Law could have been used to provide assistance to the farmers and fisherfolk.
The EO has resulted in the country’s dependence on importation and prevented the farmers from being more competitive, according to Briones.
“Retail prices of rice have yet to go down despite almost six months of its implementation,” he said.
He noted that based on monitoring in Metro Manila markets, the retail price of well-milled rice ranged between P48 and P55 per kilo, while regular-milled rice ranged between P45 and P52 per kilo.
“Rice should only be at P41 to P45 per kilo because of the lower tariff. It is clear that some traders are taking advantage of the executive order,” he said.
Briones called on the DA to name the top 10 rice importers in the country to check rice cartel, profiteering, hoarding and smuggling.