A leader of the House of Representative will file a measure that will allow the national government to use all tariff collections in excess of P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as direct cash transfers for planters.
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte said he will file a joint resolution this week to create a special emergency fund for farmers affected by the drop in farm-gate prices.
Villafuerte said the joint resolution will authorize Congress to designate an “immediate special fund” that will enable the Department of Agriculture (DA) to provide direct cash transfers to rice farmers.
He noted that total rice tariffs collected since March 5, when the rice trade liberalization took effect, until October 30, has already reached P11.4 billion.
The excess P1.4 billion, which could be increased, should be used for a direct cash transfer program. He said this is allowed by the rice trade liberalization law.
“Rather than wait for excess amount to be appropriated under the national budget for the following year when this was collected, Congress should act now and do its share in helping our distraught rice farmers survive this temporary drop in palay farm-gate prices,” said Villafuerte in a statement.
Under Section 13 of the law, the excess of P10 billion for RCEF shall be earmarked by Congress for rice farmer financial assistance, titling of agricultural rice land, expanded crop insurance program on rice, and crop diversification program “and included in the General Appropriations Act [GAA] of the following year.”
“There is an urgent need to immediately set up the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance as a supplementary and transitional safety measure to serve as compensation to rice farmers who are farming 2 hectares and below for the reduction or loss of their farm income arising from the tariffication of the quantitative import restrictions on rice,” Villafuerte said.
He said the National Treasury can declare the import tariff collections beyond the P10-billion RCEF as excess or surplus income, which Congress can then authorize to be funneled into his proposed Rice Farmer Financial Assistance program.
The lawmaker made a pitch for the special fund after the BusinessMirror reported on Friday that farmers have already lost some P61 billion due to the drop in the farm-gate price of unhusked rice. This was based on a paper prepared by the Philippine Rice Research Institute.