Rice liberalization law review needless
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2019 16:14:19 +0000
FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd said on Thursday there was no need to review Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, calling it one of the current administration’s most significant accomplishments.
In a message to reporters, Dominguez called the law — which President Rodrigo Duterte signed in February — as “one of the most important legislative achievements of the 17th Congress and the Duterte administration.”
His remarks come amid the call of rice industry players to review the law, as retail prices remain high despite falling farmate prices.
The Finance chief, however, noted that price
s have been reduced to between P5 and P10 per kilo in some areas since peaking last September.
“On average, [the] contribution of rice to inflation was negative in June 2019. Poor families spend around 20 percent of their family budget on rice, and millions of Filipinos move above the poverty line when rice is cheaper,” Dominguez said.
According to him, his department, the Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Economic and Development Authority continue to monitor import and retail prices to check whether traders are earning fair, and not excessive, profits.
“We expect the effects of enhanced competition among importers would be felt even more through additional retail price reductions. In the meantime, a few coordinated actions are being considered in case the data show evidence of abuse over the short term,” Dominguez said.
He also said agencies would also continue to proactively monitor the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund’s (RCEF) farmer-support programs, as well as the level of the collected import tariffs, and are considering adding more of these programs in advance in case collections go above P10 billion.
“We should let the rice liberalization law, which is three decades late, do its work and give the economy time to adjust for the further easing of rice prices for more than 100 million Filipinos,” Dominguez said.
“We should also implement the rice fund efficiently and effectively for our 2 to 3 million rice farmers,” he added.
Also on Thursday, Janet Abuel, Department of Budget and Management Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel, said they released funds worth P4.3 billion as required by RA 11203.
Another P700 million will be released today, she added.
ANNA LEAH E. GONZALES
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