LP solons to file resolution amending Rice Tariffication Law

Liberal Party lawmakers at the House of Representatives will file a joint resolution to amend the Rice Tariffication Law amid the continuous drop in prices of palay supposedly caused by the law.

In a statement, Occidental Mindoro Representative Josephine Ramirez-Sato confirmed reports that prices of palay in the region have gone down to P7 to P8, as relayed to her by the farmers themselves.

"Matindi ang daing sa amin ng mga magsasaka sa aming lalawigan at kinakailangan na talagang kumilos para matulungan sila, bilang sila ang mga nagpapakain sa sambayanan,” she said.

Ramirez-Sato added, “We need to move quickly to help our farmers who are in a dire situation. They are gearing up for the worst harvest season in the history of palay production this September and October and we should be able to assist them in their most difficult time.”

Quezon City Representative Jose Christopher "Kit" Belmonte, the party's secretary general, said they will push for the adoption of a resolution that would help the executive branch look for more fund sources for direct cash transfer to farmers.

"It is our responsibility as legislators to help our farmers who are potentially in the brink of extinction. The state has failed them over the past decades for not equipping them with enough safeguards for this eventual massive rice importation,” Ramirez-Sato said.

The development came after Senator Francis Pangilinan, the party's president, also filed a similar measure in the Senate amending the Rice Tariffication Law as well as allowing a P13-billion immediate cash assistance to farmers.

According to Pangilinan, there are two possible sources of direct cash transfer to farmers: the fund balance of P4 billion of the P10 billion appropriated for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund under the unprogrammed appropriations of the 2019 national budget, and the P9.19 billion collected as tariff revenues from rice importation from March 5, 2019 to August 31, 2019.

The Rice Tariffication Law 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 for shipments from neighbors in Southeast Asia. —KBK, GMA News