A farmers group said it would pursue the filing of a case against the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) before the Ombudsman if it will not release P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) this year.
Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said his group will make good of its threat to file legal charges against the DBM for “willful violation of Republic Act [RA] 11203, or the rice trade liberalization law.”
“We may file the case next year because the DBM has until the end of the year to release the full P10 billion for 2019,” Montemayor told the BusinessMirror.
Montemayor issued the statement after the BusinessMirror reported that the DBM maintained its position that it will release only P5 billion of the P10 billion that the government has promised to frontload to set up the fund pending the collection of tariffs (See, “Fund for rice farmers to get P5 billion from DBM this year,” in the BusinessMirror, July 11, 2019).
RA 11203 converted the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice into tariffs and removed the National Food Authority’s power to regulate imports. The new law mandated that tariffs collected from imported rice will constitute the RCEF.
The DBM said, however, that the P5 billion it released to the Department of Agriculture (DA) last December 28, was already part of the RCEF.
‘Illegal release’
Montemayor said it is “illegal” for the government to release funds on the basis of a nonexistent law or in anticipation of the passage of a measure.
“We will check the actual nature of the release last year. I think [it is] illegal for them to release money on the basis of, or in anticipation of, a nonexistent law,” he said. “What if the law was vetoed by [President] Duterte? How would [DBM] explain the P5-billion release?”
RA 11203 was signed by the President in February, and took effect on March 5.
Montemayor said his group will sue only the DBM as the DA did not request for the P5 billion and was only the recipient of the voluntarily release of the funds.
He also said the DBM violated several provisions of the law if indeed the P5 billion it released last year was already part of the RCEF.
Montemayor said the fund should be released directly to the implementing agencies of the RCEF and should not be coursed through the DA.
He added that the disbursement of the RCEF also requires the approval of the program steering committee, as well as the completion of a rice industry road map prior to release.
“The amount allocated shall be released directly to the implementing agencies as provided for in this Act based on the objectives and plans of the rice industry road map,” Section 13 of the RA 11203 read.
The DA stood pat on its position that the P5 billion, which was released through a Special Allotment Release Order, was a complementary fund for protecting farmers from the adverse effects of the new law.
In May, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said he was asked by the National Economic and Development Authority to consider the entire P5 billion as part of the RCEF.
However, Piñol said he refused to grant this as he would violate the law. Piñol is the only government official who is accountable for the use of the RCEF.
The agriculture chief said he agreed to return the P1 billion to the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines, as requested by the Neda. Piñol said he agreed to do so since the amount will also be used for the provision of cheap credit under the RCEF.
“We just agreed to return the P1 billion because it had the same purpose which is for credit. But the remaining P4 billion cannot be considered as part of the RCEF,” he added.
Under RA 11203, P5 billion of the RCEF is allocated for farm mechanization, P3 billion is for the distribution of inbred rice seeds and P1 billion is for credit assistance and farmers’ training.