Villar says Senate to pass rice tariffication law in September

The Senate is expected to pass this September the proposed rice tariffication law, which seeks to address the country’s nine-year higher inflation.

On the sidelines of a Senate hearing on Monday, Committee on Agriculture and Food Chair Senator Cynthia Villar said the Senate has committed to pass the proposed measure within the month.

“This month, before we end, before we go on break. ‘Di ba October 11 yata break namin? We’ll pass it before October 11.”

The proposed law seeks to lift the quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice and allow private traders to import the staple from countries of their choice.

During the hearing on the proposed 2019 budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Senator Miguel Zubiri said he was committed to making sure the proposed law is passed at the Senate.

“As your majority leader, I commit to pass it,” he said.

Once enacted, the rice tarrification law would reduce inflation by 0.8 percentage points in early 2019, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The Duterte administration’s economic managers, particularly Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, have been vocal about the significance of congressional action in tempering soaring inflation.

Inflation registered at 6.4 percent in August, the fastest in over nine years since it came in at 6.6 percent in March 2009. —VDS, GMA News