ARGUMENTATIVE

ESSAY

RICE

TARIFFICATION

LAW
 RICE TARIFFICATION LAW
Rice is the most important food crop, a staple food in most of the country. It is
produced extensively in Luzon, the Western Visayas, Southern Mindanao, and Central
Mindanao. The Philippines is the 9th largest rice producer in the world, accounting for
2.8% of global rice production. It was also the world's largest rice importer in 2010. With
10 million rice farmers. Extrapolating their number of dependents, they constitute a big
portion of the over 100 million Filipinos today, and they are in trouble. Not much of their
land can be reached by irrigation facilities and rain has not been heavy on lands.

Today, our rice farming industry is up against the ropes and our own government
is the one who put it there. What was once the centerpiece of our agriculture industry is
now barely making ends meet and is threatened with extinction every single day. The
worst part is that we are doing this to ourselves and we are effectively killing our own
industry, and periphery industries along with it.

Nothing exists in a vacuum in the country, especially in smaller rural provinces.

Once the main source of livelihood suffers, everything in the town suffers along with it.
So when rice farmers in the provinces are feeling the pinch all of the town’s periphery
businesses are going to suffer alongside them. And when more and more towns end up
with ailing businesses and citizens struggling to make ends meet it’s going to spell
disaster for the country. How the government can just watch and do nothing as
imported rice floods the markets and our own local farmers struggle to make less than
P200 a day – an amount that no business or family can survive on in this day and age.
After the inflation on the prices of basic goods and services how can we pay people
less and still expect them to survive?

The whole rationale of Republic Act No. 11203 or the rice tariffication law (RTL) is
to provide affordable rice prices for consumers, coupled with the goal of raising the
income of palay/rice farmers. These twin objectives of the law would supposedly ensure
food security for all, and secure the income of producers and the need of consumers.
Supply and demand should always remain balanced. Economists want the public to
believe this.

The implementation of RTL in March 2019 has, however, resulted in higher rice
prices for consumers but lower palay prices for rice farmers. This is not the balance that
economists envisioned from the law.

The current farm gate price of palay is ridiculously low. It currently sells between
P7 and P10 per kilogram (fresh). In Central Luzon, the country’s rice granary, the
average price of fresh palay is P10.60 (low P9, high P14). In Cagayan Valley, it costs
P12.31 per kg (low P11, high P15). If one compares this with the cost to produce a
kilogram of palay at about P12.40 per kg, farmers are losing.

Under this current pricing scheme, no farmer will continue planting rice below
production cost. The impact on the farmer household level, such as higher incidence of
malnutrition, school dropouts and increased vulnerability to early marriage, are effects
that cannot be ignored.

Local farmers are expected to be impacted the most as the removal of

quantitative restrictions will pit them against foreign competitors. The National Food
Authority (NFA) will also be directly affected as the law will remove various functions
from their role in food importation and distribution.
 The RCEF is expected to allocate P10 billion annually to the support of Filipino
rice farmers over a six-year period. This will be done through the following fund
allocations: 50 percent on rice farm machinery and equipment, rice cooperatives, and
local government units; 30 percent on rice seed development, propagation, and
promotion; 10 percent on rice credit assistance; and 10 percent to rice extension
services.

NFA will lose its power and functions in rice importation. Their role will now be
limited to maintaining a buffer stock of rice for emergency situations. They will not be
permitted to manage the licensing of importers and traders. Some 400 NFA
employees are expected to be laid off as the law will also move NFA under the
Department of Agriculture.

What farmers now recommend to the government and lawmakers is to suspend

the RTL implementation during the competitive measures phase, a period crucial to
making Filipino rice farmers viable. Filipino rice farmers are not mere recipients of
conditional cash transfers. They are key staple food producers. Assistance along the
lines of the pre-RTL palay price support of P20.70 will go a long way, especially for cash-
starved Filipino rice farmers. Farmers need at least eight cropping seasons (two
cropping seasons a year) to become competitive. The government should continue to
regulate rice imports and should provide direct farm and market support to farmers. As
with any responsible government, it should keep its option for quantitative restrictions in
case of disasters, manmade (such as policy failures) or otherwise.

It’s extremely disappointing because one of the promises of the administration

was to revamp and revitalize the already struggling agriculture sector. Unfortunately not
much has been done to this effect and now with the signing of the Philippine Rice
Tariffication Law, it seems we are giving more importance to rice from outside sources
and leaving our own local rice farmers to suffer the consequences.

According to the Department of Agriculture the Rice Law was enacted to

ensure food security, make the country’s agricultural sector viable and globally
competitive by using tariffs, and stabilizing food prices and inflation. However,
the opposite seems to be happening. Through the law the importation of foreign
rice is practically uninhibited which entices buyers to buy cheaper imported
rice. This leaves little to no business for our local rice farmers who have to rely on
government purchases at costs too low for them to live on.

Sadly, anyone who had read the law could see this outcome coming from a
mile away. It’s a pity the government could not or would not. This is not the first time we
have sacrificed our own citizens over foreign convenience and interest. And it’s
surprising given that President Duterte is so committed to helping the poor that he is
constantly making things harder for them and easier for others (mainly the Chinese). He
is exhibiting the very behavior he blasted other officials for more than once.

A drop in local rice output will also mean a decrease in rice hull, which is used as
fuel for biomass furnaces used in the provinces to provide electricity. Rice hulls are also
used as a binder for cement and land fillers.
 "We have a lot of biomass energy facilities all over the Philippines. There are
some who depend on biomass and if it fails to provide energy, then the electricity rates
will rise," Manuntag said.

If consumers are happy about lower rice prices in markets and stores, our fellow
farmers are in peril because of the blatant haggling by those who purchase these
farmers’ palay. Because of the rice tariffication law, the restrictions of importing rice
were gone. This resulted in greater supply of rice that pushed rice prices down. If you
remember, this law became the primary focus of the government during the rice crisis
that we experienced in 2018.

It may be saddening for most of us, especially for those in cities who do not
understand the struggle our farmers are facing. The government promised to pass the
Rice Tariffication Act with proper funding in order to help farmers produce better, and
protect them against unfair systems that traders and other importers follow.

What is more painful is that our lawmakers still doubt the data showing the grave
economic losses of these farmers. Sen. Cynthia Villar, for example, says that farmers
hoping to sell their grain at a price of P21 per kilo is an exaggeration. This is “too much,”
according to the senator that pushed for the implementation of the rice tariffication
law. But according to the group Batas Bigas, even the price of P21 is too much for the
senator, the farmers will only be making a profit of P5,564 every cropping season, which
is quite low compared to the supposed income of a family with five members so as not
to be considered poor. Need we wonder why farmers are among the poorest in our
country?

But in their current struggle, our farmers are experiencing the lack of attention
given by the government on their concerns. Now, can we say that the valuable
contribution of our farmers is given importance? Who benefits from the rice tariffication
law, the poor farmers or the businessmen importing rice?

In the book of Genesis 3:19, the Lord said: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat
your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are
and to dust you will return.” This is where the dignity of our farmers takes root—dignity
that is being abused by irresponsible leaders and citizens without care for these farmers’
welfare. During Pope John Paul II’s homily dedicated to the farmers in Bicol back in
1981, His Holiness gave emphasis on society’s great debt of gratitude to our farmers. In
the Pope’s words, farming is noble because it is not only a service for their families but
for the entire country. The service that farmers render because of their self-sacrifice for
the sake of their fellowmen in need of food can’t be quantified

Since the Rice Tariffication Law could not be stopped the only hope for
stakeholders was to include provisions in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR)
that might offer them some form of protection. They originally asked for protection for
farmers who may have no traders to buy their crops that the government would
implement a “rolling buffer stock” to release their rice bought from farmers into the
market and regularly buy grains anew.

For employees who used to regulate imported rice and will now no longer have
a function, that they would be transferred to other positions in the agency. And finally,
farmers would be able to avail of the rice competitiveness enhancement fund (RCEF)
and have quicker access to loans and grants needed at a lower interest rate as well as
free access to farming equipment and rice seeds.
 While all of this sounds good in theory, not all of them made it into black
and white print when Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol signed the IRR. In
fact, much of these protections are only discussed in theory and this can be
interpreted differently depending on who is reading the IRR or who stands to
benefit or lose. Piñol claims that he will uphold these promises, but only time will
tell.

And even if he does keep his word, will it make a difference? All we are seeing
now is that our farmers are suffering daily and many are already considering giving up
the trade. This will have a negative impact on our economy and our agricultural sector.
We already have less and less farmers per generation and the way things are now, no
one will be enticed to take up the profession.

At the very least, the people have decided to do what they can to help. Various
online efforts and organizations have come together to help local farmers through
various initiatives. We can all help in our own way too through simple means like buying
locally produced rice, imploring government officials to buy from local farmers, asking
companies to get involved and buy local rice, sharing information about the plight of
local farmers, and as a means of helping farmers directly joining in group rice buys that
people are setting up for local farmers.

In these “rice buys” farmers are able to sell their product directly to the
consumers, cutting out the bureaucracy and the middle man and keeping the profits
directly and helping them earn better income. My daughter mentioned a few of these
initiatives online and we are going to buy some sacks directly from the farmers. Despite
the challenges they continue to face, it heartens me to see ordinary citizens trying to
find a way to help. This gives me hope that even when things are difficult, Filipinos will
not just accept the status quo and will do what they can to help those that need it
most.

Jam Melchor, the founder of Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement and the
country head of Slow Food Youth Network Philippines, also offers a solution for the farmers.
He says, "And for farmers to learn how to slowly plant other crops so they are protected
when one cash crop is at a low price or no harvest"

Even though the Rice Tariffication Law is still in its seventh month and may still be
experiencing birthing pains, we should remain vigilant with what is happening to our
agriculture landscape. We should help each other by keeping ourselves informed about
our resources and the livelihood of our kababayan.

The irony can’t be lost in our situation a primarily agricultural country that
struggles in sustaining its farmers. Perhaps it would do well to remember this Polish
proverb when it comes to the Rice Tariffication Law and all other measures that impact
farmers: “If the farmer is poor, then so is the whole country.”