AN independent research group said the plan of lawmakers to pass a new measure to remove the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice to slash prices will also cut the income of farmers.
IBON Foundation said in a statement that a bill that would amend Republic Act (RA) 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996, will cause the farm-gate price of unmilled rice to go down due to more rice imports, but not necessarily lower the retail price of the staple.
“If higher importation will decrease farm-gate prices, then the already insufficient income of farmers will fall further,” IBON said.
The group said the current farm-gate price of palay at P21 per kilogram (kg) is “insufficient” for the needs of farmers.
“Computing the average yield of 80 cavans of palay from 1 hectare, which is equivalent to 4,000 kg, a rice farmer earns only P36,000 until the next cropping,” IBON said.
“Each cropping commonly lasts for six months, which means that the farmer’s average monthly income of P6,000 is 76 percent short of the estimated monthly family living wage [FLW] of P25,454 for a family of five,” it added.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippine (TUCP) earlier said the government could help boost the competitiveness of local farmers to compete head to head with their overseas counterparts by providing them technical support using the a portion of the tariffs from rice importation.
In his third State of the Nation Address last month, President Duterte said he will certify as urgent a bill that would replace the QR on rice with tariffs.
The move is aimed at arresting the spike in rice prices, which have increased for six straight months—by P2.53, from P37.83 per kg to P40.36 per kg for regular milled rice and by P1.61, from P42.58 per kg to P44.19 per kg for well-milled rice.
IBON also said the new legislative measure will not address the root cause of high prices for the Filipino food staple: rice cartels.
“Congress may be misguided for placing its hopes on unlimited rice importation for stabilizing supply and prices, while the rice industry remains dominated by an alleged trading cartel that dictates rice prices,” IBON Foundation said.
The group said this was “apparent” during the rice crisis of 2008 up to 2010, when the country imported an annual average of 2.2 metric tons of rice, but the retail prices of the cereal grain continued to increase by an annual average of P1.20 until 2016.