LAS Piñas Rep. Mark Anthony Santos yesterday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to include in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) proposals seeking to amend Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), which he said has failed to uplift the lives of farmers and stabilize rice prices.
Santos said the President should include the measure in his list of legislative priorities and certify it as urgent because of the law’s negative impact on local farmers and the unstable rice prices that continue to burden consumers.
Santos particularly called for the restoration of the National Food Authority’s (NFA) role in buying palay (unhusked rice) from local farmers and maintaining a buffer stock to help stabilize rice prices in the market, a key feature of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez’s House Bill No. 1, or the proposed “Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act.”
Santos said RA 11203, which replaced quantitative restrictions on rice imports with tariffs, “has led to a surge of cheap imported rice that displaced local produce and significantly lowered farmgate prices, putting millions of Filipino farmers at a disadvantage.”
“Ang ipinangakong benepisyo ng Rice Tariffication Law ay hindi natin naramdaman. Hindi bumaba nang husto ang presyo ng bigas, at lalong naghihirap ang ating mga magsasaka (The promised benefits of the Rice Tariffication Law wasn’t felt. Rice prices did not significantly dropped and our farmers further suffered),” he said.
Romualdez’s proposed RICE Act seeks to reform the NFA by amending RA 11203 and restoring the regulatory powers of the NFA to intervene in the rice market and prevent hoarding, profiteering and price manipulation.
The bill seeks to return the NFA’s authority to register and license grain warehouses, conduct inspections, monitor the rice trade and seize hoarded rice stocks and release them to the public to fight artificial shortages or price spikes, which lawmakers have found to be the handiwork of hoarders and unscrupulous traders.
Santos urged his fellow lawmakers to act swiftly and review the RTL’s provisions, warning that failure to reform the law “could lead to further hardship for both farmers and ordinary Filipinos already grappling with rising living costs.”
He also the backed Sen. Erwin Tulfo’s call to revive the NFA’s procurement and distribution role and to empower public mechanisms like “Kadiwa” outlets to stabilize rice prices.
Santos said that while the RTL was passed in 2019 to liberalize rice importation and generate revenue for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), the support provided to farmers under RCEF “is not enough to offset the damage caused by unregulated imports.”
He said the RCEF, which was designed to aid farmers through training and distribution of seeds and equipment, “has been criticized as poorly implemented and delayed in distribution.”
“We need to amend the law to prioritize local production and food security. Hindi sapat ang kasalukuyang sistema. Kailangan ng batas na talagang nagpoprotekta sa mga magsasaka at mamimili (The present system won’t do. We need a law that really protects farmers and consumers),” Santos said as he called for a full audit of the RCEF.
Santos said Philippines has become overly reliant on rice imports, mainly from Vietnam and Thailand, which made the country vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions and foreign trade policies.
