In a hearing of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) at the Senate, farmers reiterated anew the junking of RA 11203 or the Rice Liberalization Law, saying the law is guaranteed to worsen PH’s rice import dependency

For the third consecutive year, the Philippines is poised to become the world’s largest rice importer in 2025, with the projected rice import of 4.2 million MT according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). “This forecast says a lot about how RA 11203 has affected rice farmers, consumders and the domestic rice industry in the past five years of its implementation.”

The said hearing, presided by Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson Cynthia Villar, will review the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) under Section 13 of RA 11203. The relevant portion of said Section 13 reads: “At the end of the sixth (6th) year, a mandatory review shall be conducted by the Congressional OversightCommittee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) to determine whether the Rice Fund and its use as provided for under this Act shall be continued, amended, or terminated.”

KMP said that proposals to extend the RCEF and even increase the fund from the current Php10-billion to P15-billion should be reconsidered. The group cited weaknesses in the Philmech’s utilization of the fund. Based on actual data, the country’s mechanization remain at a low 14 percent. Likewise, Philmech’s involvement in the purchasing of overpriced tractors in 2021 makes the agency unreliable and untrustworthy when it comes to the RCEF’s usage. The agency purchased some 1,346 farm tractors, with each tractor overpriced by Php98,000 or a total of Php131 million.

The group further said that actual delays in the distribution of the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) also forfeitd the purpose of the fund to provide timely aid to rice farmers in need of assistance. “Inaabot ng ilang taon bago maipamahagi sa mga magsasaka ng palay ang P2.135 billion excess tariff revenue collection noong 2019, ang P5.471 billion noong 2020, ang P8.948 billion noong 2021 at ang labis na P12.795 billion noong 2022. Sa taong 2023, halos P20B ang excess tariff revenue collection subalit hindi pa ito lubusang naimamahagi sa mga magsasakang benepisaryo ng RFFA,” KMP’s Danilo Ramos said during the oversight hearing.

KMP said RCEF must be assesed also side-by-side with the National Rice Program of the DA; the Agriculture, Fisheries and Mechanization Act; and strengthening the mandate and regulatory fuctions of the BPI with regard to issuance of Sanitary and Pythosanitary Import Clearances.

KMP and AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women submitted a position paper to the COCAFM reiterating the demand to repeal RA 11203. ###