Rice production went up to its highest ever partly because of rice tariffication, Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said.
During the 72nd Inaugural Meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines on Tuesday, Dominguez said this proves that opening up economy challenges the local production and that they respond positively if there is “good” support.
“We just got the figures on the effects of rice tariffication on rice production. You know rice production actually went up. It’s been the highest it’s been ever,” said Dominguez, who was a former agriculture secretary under former President Corazon C. Aquino.
However, the finance chief did not give specific figures.
“I don’t know how they calculate it but around half of it is because of good weather but the other half is because farmers have funds, which we gave them from the collection of tariffs to invest in better production methods and actually yields have gone up,” he said. “So last night during the Cabinet meeting, I said, you know, this is another proof that actually economic theory works.”
Dominguez made the remark after he reiterated his position on Charter change that he is in favor of opening up the economy “in all areas possible” except land ownership.
In December, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said the Philippines has recorded its highest production level at 19.44 million metric tons (MMT) in 2020.
Based on the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, this is higher than the 18.81 MMT in 2019 and 19.07 million recorded in 2018.
The previous record-high production was in 2017 at 19.276 MMT.
Dar said the high rice production level was achieved despite the series of typhoons that battered several areas of the country and amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The typhoons that struck the Philippines in the last quarter of 2020 destroyed at least P12.3 billion worth of crops, including rice, according to government data.
For this year, the Department of Agriculture will shoot for another record as it has set a palay production target of 20.48 MMT.
Under the Rice Trade Liberalization (RTL) law, tariffs collected from rice imports are used to fund the six-year P10-billion annual funding for Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to bankrolll programs that would provide farmers with high-quality seeds, machinery, easier credit access and relevant training to improve their productivity and become competitive.
Should annual tariff revenues from rice importations exceed P10 billion, the RTL law states that these shall be earmarked by Congress—and included in the national budget of the following year—for financial assistance to palay farmers, titling of agricultural lands, an expanded crop insurance program on rice, and crop diversification.
As earlier reported, rice tariffs collected by the Bureau of Customs in January to November last year reached P14.6 billion from 2.25 MMT of rice imports.
In 2019, Customs collected P12.3 billion in rice tariffs from March to December following the passage of the RTL, which removed the quantitative restriction on the staple.
2 comments
Animal kayo! Sino lolokohin nyo?
Ito mangyayari sa March to April 2021, babagsak presyo ng palay dahil mag papasok ng imported na bigas galing ibang bansa sa panahon na aani na sa Nueva Ecija at Isabela. Sana lang mali ako dahil pag sasaka ang isa sa aming kinabubuhay kaya lang ganito na talaga nangyayari dumadating ang imported rice sa panahon ng anihan.