Recto seeks cash aid for farmers, cuts in rice import duties

House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto has pushed for direct cash assistance to farmers and temporary reduction in rice import duties to help cushion the impact of the new policy putting a cap on the price of the staple.

Recto said the proposals may be done by amending Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, which liberalized rice trading by allowing unlimited importation of rice.

In exchange, about P10 billion collected from rice tariffs will be pooled into the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) annually for the benefit of the farmers.

In a statement, Recto said Executive Order No. 39 of the Marcos administration, which mandated price of regular milled rice at P41.00 per kilogram and well-milled rice at P45.00 per kilogram, has immediately sent palay farmgate prices plummeting from P23 to P19 per kilo.

“Kung apektado ang kalahati ng forecast palay harvest sa taong ito – mga 10 million metric tons – lugi ang mga magsasaka ng P40 billion. Ngayon pa naman ay harvest season,” Recto, an economist, said.

The House leader proposed the amendment of Section 13 of the Rice Tariffication Law to make changes to the RCEF menu to allow direct cash subsidy.

Currently, the formula of RCEF plowbacks are 50 percent for equipment; 30 percent for seeds; 10 percent for credit assistance; 10 percent for extension.

“Hindi kasama ang ala-Conditional Cash Transfer, or direct payouts to farmers.
Dadaan pa sa Department of Agriculture, na parang middle man,” he said.

“I have always maintained that instead of straitjacketed assistance, we should trust the farmers with the decision on how best to spend the import dividends given to them as indemnity,” he added.

“Straight to their pockets, straight to their stomachs. Yung perang katas ng RCEF ipamigay sa lahat ng rice farmers at hindi lang doon sa nagtratrabaho sa two hectares at pababa. At ang cash component ay hindi lang kukunin doon sa excess ng P10 billion ng tariff collections,” he also said.

Recto said that because cash transfer is not part of the RCEF menu, “government is denied the flexibility to undertake rapid-response relief that will ease the plight of farmers during exigencies.”

“Kung sino pa ang mahirap at walang makain, sila pa ang magbebenta ng pagkain sa itinakdang halaga,” he said.

Recto also said that the President should also “pull the trigger” on Section 7 of the law and reduce import duties on rice.

Citing Section 7 of the law, he said, “The President may increase, reduce, revise, or adjust existing rates of import duty up to the bound rate committed by the Philippines under the WTO Agreement on Agriculture and under the ATIGA, including any necessary change in classification applicable to the importation of rice.

This is provided that the powers delegated to the President “shall only be exercised when Congress is not in session” and that “any order issued by the President adjusting the applied tariff rates shall take effect 15 days after publication.”

“In the event of any imminent or forecasted shortage, or such other situation requiring government intervention, the President is empowered for a limited period and/or a specified volume, to allow the importation at a lower applied tariff rate to address the situation. Such order shall take effect immediately and can only be issued when Congress is not in session,” the law also said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News