Manila-- After rainstorms of conceptions, experts said on
Friday that the liberalization of rice imports will get better with the
government's support programs to make domestic farmers more productive.
"I think on the one hand, the liberalization of the
rice market is a good thing but it has to come hand in hand with more
subsidies, more support for domestic rice producers because you don’t want to
get into a situation where you’re only dependent on imported rice," The
Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Anwita Basu said in an ANC interview.
A researcher of the Philippine Institute for Development
Studies also suggested three support mechanisms to assist farmers in the rice
tariffication passage.
"Compensating farmers not enough to help them; we have
to create safety net for them," Dr. Roehlano Briones said.
"I would describe the strategy laid out in the rice
taruffication Act as traditional, by adding more on the same types of support
that we already providing to huge extent to the rice sector in the
Philippines," he further said.
He said that aside from the traditional support, one
compensation that can give to farmers was
through deficiency payments wherein by looking at the price
and providing price guarantee when the import regime kicks in.
Aside from the two safety nets given, Briones said the
coupled payments can also help local farmers since it has been proven effective
in other countries.
"This is being adopted by many countries worldwide,
coupled support where you provide compensation to the farmer without any
conditionalities.. that they continue to farm or harvest a large amount, that
the more you harvest, the more payments you get. It creates a style that tends
to what we call provided distortion."
Briones said that creating a distortion in the decision
making provides an artificial incentive.
"So once artificial incentive was take out if a farmer
lost income by our policy so here's the compensation, as I've mentioned,"
Briones added.
Under this new rice tarrification law, the price of the rice
will get lower by making it more affordable to the rice-consuming public, which
allows unlimited importation of rice as long as private sector traders secure a
phytosanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant Industry and pay the 35-percent
tariff for shipments from neighbors in Southeast Asia.
This law seeked to liberalize rice importation by replacing
quantitative import restrictions with tariffs, bringing it down to P2 to P7 per
kilo as stated by Finance Assistant Secretary Tony Lambino.
Under its measure, allotted funds required upon passage
of P10 billion for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, of which P5
billion will be allotted to farm mechanization and P3 billion to seedlings. The
fund intends to ensure that rice imports won’t scarce the agriculture sector
and rob farmers of their livelihood.
Meanwhile, other lawmakers, rice farmers, grain retailers
and other stakeholders still growl for their businesses and works that would
have a huge impact on the livelihood.
The group of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said the law
would directly affect the livelihood of 13.5 million rice farmers and 17.5
million farmworkers and their families.
The same with Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT)
party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio who said that rice tarrification law will worsen
the situation and just succeed the rice cartels of the country.
"The enactment of the rice tariffication law will be
another broken promise by the Duterte administration as this measure will only
worsen poverty and hunger and will only cater monopoly traders whose primary
mission in life is to profit," he said.
Earlier, Duterte explained to Congress that rice
tariffication law is an urgent need to improve availability of rice in the
country, prevent artificial rice shortage, reduce the prices of rice in the
market and curtail the prevalence of corruption and cartel domination in the
rice industry.
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, then said that the President
believed "in giving what is best for the greatest number of
Filipinos."
"He believes in the principle of and benefits of having
lesser government intervention and allowing the interplay of market forces,
while providing the needed safety nets to affected sectors," Lopez said.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo added "Good
governance is the hallmark of the Duterte Administration and the President has
zero tolerance against corruption and wastage of taxpayers' money."
