Sa wakas, nakinig din! Senators Seek Changes To Rice Tariffication Law

Two months before the elections and facing a restive agriculture sector, one of the authors of the Rice Tariffication Law, Sherwin Gatchalian, now sees the need for the review of the law which allowed the flooding of the market with imported rice admitting that Filipino farmers had been adversely affected.

Ito ang buod ng balita na inilabas noong March 12 ng Rappler pagkatapos ng isang forum na kasama ang mga kumakandidatong mga Senador, including Gatchalian.

This is a major success in my advocacy calling for the review and amendment of the controversial Rice Tariffication Law which flooded the market with imported rice and caused the collapse of farm gate prices for the local palay production.

Isa si Gatchalian sa mga authors ng Republic Act 11203 o Rice Liberalization Act of 2019, o Rice Tariffication Law, which allowed the unimpeded importation of rice.

Ang mga kasama pang Senador ay sina Cynthia Villar, bilang principal author, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, Leila de Lima, Risa Hontiveros, Ralph Recto at Grace Poe.

Gatchalian, Villanueva, De Lima and Hontiveros are seeking reelection as Senators in the May 2022 elections.

Matatandaan na noong ako ang Kalihim ng Agrikultura at nagpahayag ako nang aking pagtutol at pangamba sa unimpeded rice importation, binalaan ako ni Senator Gatchalian na hwag patagalin ang implementasyon ng batas.

Earlier, Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senator Manny Pacquiao also said that the Rice Tariffication Law indeed needs to be reviewed and amended because it did not deliver the declared benefits.

Ipinangako ng mga Economic Managers na bababa nang P7 per kilo ang presyo ng bigas sa palengke pero ito ay hindi nangyari, bagkus tumaas pa ang presyo.

Bumagsak din ang presyo ng bilihan ng palay ng mga Pilipinong magsasaka mula P22 per kilo to as low as P10 to P12 at lalo pang nahirapan ang mga ito dahil sa tripleng pagtaas ng presyo ng abono.

Masaya ako sa development na ito sapagkat inaamin na ng mga mambabatas na may diperensya ang kanilang ginawang batas at ang kailangan ngayon ay ang tamang mga datos para ma amend ang RTL.

I am sharing here a portion of the Rappler news item written by Jaro Bolledo which was published March 12, 2022.

“To help farmers, Senate bets seek

changes to rice tariffication law

By Jairo Bolledo

MANILA, Philippines – To help farmers affected by the government’s rice tariffication law, some senatorial candidates said they will push for some changes in the said law.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte who is part of the Senate slate of dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., said if he wins, he would push for an oversight for the said law. Gatchalian was one of the authors of the law.

“May pagbaba nga ng presyo ng bigas sa consumer pero ang ating mga farmers naman ay hindi kumikita (The price of rice for consumers is decreasing but our farmers are not earning from it),” Gatchalian said during the Rundown 2022 senatorial forum on Saturday, March 12.

An oversight means the law would be reviewed or monitored by the legislative branch or certain lawmakers.

The rice tariffication law, passed under Duterte’s term, has become a controversial law because of its negative impact on farmers. Even Duterte’s former agriculture chief and now senatorial candidate Manny Piñol said the law would put the farmers at the mercy of agricultural imports.

In September 2020, the Federation of Free Farmers and Action for Economic Reform revealed in a study that after the rice tariffication law was passed, there was a decline in the prices of palay.”

#PoserOfTheFarmers!