NFA Rice at P45/kg! Yeas, Amend Flawed RTL, But Avoid Another Mistake

Amending and correcting the flawed Rice Tariffication Law by restoring the supervisory and regulatory powers of the National Food Authority over the Rice industry is the right move to clean up the mess created by the previous Economic Team.
Proponents of the RTL Amendment, however, must avoid committing a mistake with the promise to sell NFA Rice at prices as low as P30 per kilo because it could result in massive losses for the government rice agency.
Buying farmers palay at P25 to P30 per kilo clean and dry is a correct strategy as it would encourage farmers to plant and produce more.
At this buying price, however, NFA must not sell rice lower than P45 per kilo which is the break-even price to avoid government losses which would give RTL supporters a legitimate ground to oppose the amendment.
Selling NFA Rice at P45 per kilo would still be a lot lower than the prevailing price of imported rice in the market which ranges from P50 to P60 per kilo.
With NFA buying palay at P25 to P30 per kilo dry and clean, traders could not exploit farmers by buying low while selling NFA Rice at P45 per kilo would stabilize rice prices in the market.
Proposing a P30 per kilo NFA Rice in the market is not sustainable and it could result in massive losses to government.
Also, proponents of the amendments to the RTL must make sure that the allocation of the tariff collected through the RTL must be re-configured with funds focused on Irrigation, High-yielding Seeds and Fertilizer as the priority areas.
These are the basic needs of farmers in improving their productivity.
The basic lesson here is “In correcting a mistake make sure that you are not committing another mistake.”
#GovernanceIsCommonSense!