Rice Tariffication Law (RTL)

Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me here. My name is Mark Ian S. Acosta , and I am going
to be speaking to you today about the Impact of Rice tarrification Law. To begin with, it is
important know what is Rice Tarrification Law.

Rice Tariffication Law, "An Act liberalizing the importation, exportation, and trading of rice,
lifting for the purpose the quantitative import restriction on rice," was signed into law by
President Rodrigo Duterte. The RTL focuses on having rice importers pay a tariff. Southeast
Asian countries will pay a 35% tariff, while non-ASEAN members pay a 50% tariff or the tariff
dictated by the World Trade Organization.

These efforts that focus on rice importation aim to make rice more accessible to Filipinos, as rice
from countries like Vietnam and Thailand are sold at a more affordable price. But what happens
to Filipino rice farmers?

If consumers are happy about lower rice prices in markets and stores, our fellow farmers are in
threat because of the obvious bargain 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 for the Filipino farmers.

Meanwhile, the price of palay purchased from farmers was greatly reduced. On average, the
market value of grain falls to P17 per kilo, which is lower than the P22 price last year. It is even
more worrying in some areas that have been planting rice for decades. In Nueva Ecija, for
example, the price of grain falls to only P7 per kilo. Farmers are at a complete loss since the cost
of producing a kilo of palay is placed at P12. Our farmers are in danger because of the
competition in the market brought about by inexpensive imported rice.

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 and I hope they do. Filipino farmers are crying save
them from these struggles.

It is even more painful that our lawmakers still doubt the data showing the grave economic
losses of these farmers. Sen. Cynthia Villar ,owner of Camella homes, 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. Wonder why farmers are
among the poorest in our country? It's because of the unjust decisions of Lawmakers like
Cynthia Villar who degraded farmers.

In the Pope John Paul'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.

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?