MANILA – A total of P5 billion was already released to assist farmers, with another P10 billion to be released once revenue is realized from the Rice Tariffication Law, the administration’s economic cluster said Thursday.
The P5 billion was released to the Department of Agriculture (DA) through a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) last December 2018, according to the Departments of Finance, Budget and Management (DBM), and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
“This program is complementary to the Rice Tariffication Law’s Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, or RCEF, a P10-billion fund that will help farmers transition to a new rice regime,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
On Feb. 15, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo confirmed that President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the measure removing quantitative restrictions on rice imports.
The measure allows unlimited importation of rice as long as private sector traders secure a phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35-percent tariff on shipments from Southeast Asia.
The law earmarks P10 billion for the RCEF, of which P5 billion will be allotted to farm mechanization and P3 billion to seedlings. The fund intends to ensure that rice imports won’t drown out the agriculture sector and rob farmers of their livelihood.
“We are listening very carefully to the concerns of our farmers. Some are worried that the RCEF is an unprogrammed fund, which can only be released once there is excess revenue,” said Budget secretary Benjamin Diokno.
“We will make sure that a minimum of P10 billion is made available for the RCEF per year in farmer support programs even if tariff collections are less than expected,” he added.
RCEF will also be used to procure farmer tools and equipment and assist in the production, promotion, and distribution of rice seeds, upgrading of post-harvest storage facilities, and research and development, among others.
“P5 billion was released in December 2018 to help protect farmers through the National Rice Program. Another P10 billion will be released through the RCEF once excess revenue collection is realized from the tariffs on rice imports,” said Socioeconomic Planning secretary Ernesto M. Pernia.
“The RCEF will ensure that protection will go to farmers through direct support programs. We will make certain that affected farmers will receive proper and adequate support as they transition to a new regime. We will also establish transparency and grievance mechanisms for this purpose,” he added.
Once implemented, the Rice Tariffication Law could reduce inflation by 0.8 percentage point, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said last year.
“On economic impact, liberalizing the rice sector could also translate into upgrades from credit rating agencies, thus lower borrowing costs for the country, besides making it more attractive to investors,” said Finance secretary Carlos Dominguez III.
Moody’s Investors Service earlier this week welcomed the passage of the law, saying this could be credit positive for the Philippines. (GMA News)
