Press Release
September 3, 2019

OPENING STATEMENT OF SEN. FRANCIS PANGILINAN
ON THE SECOND HEARING ON RICE TARIFFICATION LAW
03 September 2019

Magandang umaga po sa kanilang lahat. Hindi ho ako naka-attend nung unang hearing at tayo po ay humihingi ng paumanhin dahil last August 28 ay mayroon po tayong pressing and urgent family commitment na kinakailangan nating tugunan. Kaya naman nais nating pasalamatan si Sen. Villar para sa pag-schedule ng pangalawang hearing na ito. Tayo po ay nag-deliver ng isang privilege speech noong nakaraang linggo--two weeks ago, at pinag-aralan natin bago ng hearing na ito 'yung naging minutes and transcripts nung huli at unang hearing nung August 28.

'Yung August 28 hearing delved into the history of the Rice Tariffication Law, its ongoing implementation, especially of its safety net provisions, and other proposed solutions to keep our rice farmers afloat, alive, and eventually for our farmers to thrive.

Magandang nabanggit ni Sec. Dar--wala nga pala si Sec. Dar ngayon...

Anyway, sana sa mga darating na mga araw, pwede rin tayong makipagpulong kay Sec. Dar para i-follow through itong ilang magiging proposals natin. Maganda 'yung sinabi niya noong unang hearing na ang kanyang vision ay dumoble ang dagdag na sasahurin o kikitain ng ating mga magsasaka.

Napakahalaga no'n dahil sa ibang bansa, Vietnam, China, Thailand, ang benchmark ng kanilang intervention ay kung nadadagdagan ba ang kinikita o kaya sinasahod ng mga magsasaka. Dahil kung bilyon nga ang ginagastos natin sa mga iba't ibang programa, ngunit hindi naman dumadagdag ang napupunta sa bulsa ng mga magsasaka, ano'ng saysay ng lahat nung mga suporta.

That our farmers fare well, especially in their livelihood, is my own personal advocacy in these policy discussions. The impact of the Rice Tariffication Law on our farmers stresses the urgency of this focus on their plight.

How urgent is it for our farmers? Nabanggit ko ito sa ating privilege speech, uulitin lang po natin. The country produces about 20 million metric tons of palay annually. Multiply each ton--20 million (metric) tons 'yun eh--by one thousand, which is therefore the number of kilos, that would be 20 billion kilos of palay every year. So, for every one peso drop in palay prices per kilo, that's 20 billion pesos taken away from our rice farmers' pockets. Kung mahigit 3 piso kada isang kilo ng palay ang bumagsak ang presyo mula 21 hanggang 17, more or less, 18, 17, kulang-kulang 60 bilyong piso--

.....

Gusto ko lang pong ulitin 'yung walong action steps na ating minungkahi sa ating privilege speech para rin makakuha ng dagdag na inputs. Babanggit din natin, isusuma natin ang mga napag-usapang action steps noong nakaraang hearing para ho 'yung direksyon po natin ay tungo sa mga solusyon.

'Yung ating minungkahi na walong hakbang:

1.) The use of the agriculture special safeguards under RA 8800 that can be triggered by a volume or rice threshold of imports.

Ang ating paniwala o ang ating impormasyon, lumampas tayo doon sa mahigit dalawang metrong toneladang imports and therefore pupuwede na po itong trigger volume. And the law states that a special safeguard duty may be sent. So that is one. We'd like to see action steps towards, well at least, as a proposal.

2.) We can also have recourse to the general safeguards and anti-dumping duties.

Ito rin po ay kinakailangan nating pag-aralan at kung maaari ay buksan kaagad dahil ang balita ay mayroong time-table iyan at timeline. Relevant WTO provisions and safeguard measures Act of 2000--it provides that the general safeguard increase can be imposed if the product is being imported into the country and increased quantities whether absolute or relative to the domestic production as to the substantial cause of serious injury or thread thereof to the domestic industry. So 'yung general safeguards and anti-dumping duties, sa DA po iyan. Kinakailangan magkaroon ng mga konkretong mungkahi kung dapat bang gamitin na itong mga safeguard measures na ito.

3.) Ito 'yung minungkahi natin, 'yung emergency relief in the form of cash assistance.

Base sa batas sa ngayon, 'yung tariffication law, maaari nang magkaroon ng direct cash assistance kapag na-breach na 'yung 10-billion na nanggagaling sa taripa. The question there is, should this provision of the law be amended, meaning, should we wait for the 10-billion at this time to be breached or not. That's what we want to know because kailangan nung assistance ngayon. So kung kailangan 'yung assistance ngayon, dapat bang magkaroon na ng immediate cash assistance at hindi na muna hihintayin 'yung 10-billion. Pero kung nalampasan na 'yung 10-billion amounts, therefore, mayroon nang option na direct cash assistance, kasi right now, I think the proposal is 15,000 na pautang na walang interes. So wala pa itong cash assistance na pinag-uusapan.

Sabi ng PIDS study of 2015, ang rekomendasyon nila ay 19,000 per hectare per year ang dapat direct cash assistance dahil 'yon daw ang mawawalang kita ng ating mga magsasaka dahil sa pagpasok nga ng imported na rice. So that's number three.

4.) Mayroon daw unprogrammed 10-billion nung huling hearing. Nagkakagulo kung pupuwede bang, 'yun ba ay kinakailangan bang mayroong assertion or certification na lumampas na 'yung taripa o 10-billion 'yan unprogrammed on top of 'yung makokolekta sa taripa.

.....

5.) 'Yung Price Act allows the DTI to issue suggested retail prices for rice and other basic commodities.

So dapat mayroong ding ganoong parallel effort to monitor rice prices and to act on possible, sabihin na nating pagsasamantala nung presyo ng bigas.

6.) We also asked the Philippine Competition Commission to investigate the existing rice importers if they are taking advantage of the collective dominance.

Dahil ang nakikita nga natin, bumaba ang presyo ng bigas pero maliit lang, habang malaki ang bagsak ng presyo ng palay. So dapat 'yan, mayrooon kahit paano, hindi nalalayo masyado 'yung bagsak ng palay at 'yung bagsak ng presyo ng bigas. Kung masyadong malayo, doon pumapasok 'yung posibleng pagsasamantala dahil nga sa kanilang dominance and I understand that the PCC is looking into this. We would like to get, kahit na confidentially, I understand that there are security concerns kung ano ang mga magiging hakbang.

7.) Ayun na nga, 'yung utang pero ang lumalabas 15,000.

8.) 'Yung emergency employment for distressed farmers through the DSWD cash for work program.

Ibig sabihin, and we'd also like to see the NIA, the National Irrigation Administration, mayroon din 'yang emergency employment lalo na sa rehabilitation ng kanilang mga water systems. Agad, puwedeng magkaroon ng dagdag na trabaho 'yung ating mga magsasaka at pagkakakitaan habang sinusubukan nilang malampasan itong mga problemang ito.

At finally, 'yung mga nabanggit nung huling hearing,

Require the Department of Social Welfare and Development to give a P28-billion conditional cash transfer in the form of rice, not cash, sourced from our local farmers.

Sabi nila malaki ang posibleng leakage nito dahil mahirap daw gawin pero palagay ko kung mababantayan naman nang maayos 'yan, at maimplementa nang tama, imbes na cash, ay may portion, hindi naman siguro lahat magiging in kind. Pupuwedeng portion of it in kind, portion cash pa rin para makukuha nung ating farmers 'yung merkado nung rice import na 'yon.

Require NFA to buy palay from the farmers, nabanggit iyan;

Increase NFA buffer stock from 30 days to 90 days. Sabi po ito ng ating DA Secretary;

Remove the requirement that annual tariff revenues must exceed 10 billion pesos before the financial assistance to rice farmers is given;

Update farm registry to ensure an accurate listing of beneficiaries;

Make the distribution of the RCEF more flexible and allocate a higher amount for rice farmer financial assistance;

Tapos, 'yun na nga sabi the DA institute a price support program to help our farmers; And institute a floor selling price for rice; among others.

'Yun po ang ilan sa mga nabanggit noong nakaraang hearing. So with that, Ma'am, we thank you for this opportunity to have a second hearing. Napakainit nga na usapin dahil nga sa kalagayan at sitwasyon but we welcome solutions. Ang gusto po natin dito magkaroon ng common effort na matugunan itong impact.

Kinikilala naman po ng rice tariffication measure 'yung fairness magkakaroon ng impact sa farmers, kaya nga ho may RCEF. Pero ang kinakailangan, tiyakin na tama ang pag-iimplementa nung pag-disburse ng RCEF para matugunan ang impact ng importation ng bigas sa ating magsasaka.

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