RA 11203, also known as the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), signed in 2019 removed Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) or ban on rice importation. Taxes imposed on imported rice shall be spent for productivity enhancement measures – better irrigation, new technologies to increase crop yield, and the like – that will help farmers save on production costs to have better earnings.
RTL provided measures to help farmers increase their productivity. However, after two years from its implementation, Filipino farmers are reeling from the effects of the law since many of them have not received adequate help from the government while suffering a great loss in income since imported rice is cheaper.
RTL Law allows importers to bring unlimited volumes of rice to the local market as long as they pay the imposed tax and acquire sanitary clearances. This made rice cheaper which forced our farmers to level or lower their pricing with the market to avoid incurring losses.
Unlike other countries, the Philippines does not have a price support program to protect farmers from production losses. Additionally, the Philippines does not have widely imposed technologies that would increase the production of crops at an affordable rate.
According to estimates of the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) and other groups, local rice producers lost around P80 billion due to the price drop of rice in 2019. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released similar data showing P87 billion loss of the rice sector in the same year.
The situation of our farmers got worse when lockdowns were imposed due to COVID-19. This led some farmers to sell their lands to realtors and other investors. If the conversion of lands continues and if our farmers would simultaneously give up, the agricultural sector of the country will be crippled since rice is the country’s major crop.
The RTL may be an answered prayer to the consumers as rice became more affordable. However, being fully reliant on imports is dangerous in the long run. Factors such as an increase in the foreign exchange rate and political differences are just some of them.
Moreover, full reliance on imports will lessen the local production of goods which will lower the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thus, the possibility of, making our economy too weak to stand on its own.
