GROUPS on Tuesday renewed calls to repeal the Rice Tariffication Law passed in 2019, saying it has not brought down the retail price of the staple and failed to deliver on the supposed development support for local farmers. Watch group Bantay Bigas and the farmers’ organization Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women led a petition […]
Tag: tariffication
Farm mechanization agency under pressure over disbursement performance
THE Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) faced questioning from the Senate after disbursing only a fraction of its budget for mechanizing the rice farming industry. At a hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform committee Senator Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios R. Marcos said the agency disbursed only P159 million of the funding available […]
Balisacan open to expanded funding for RCEF
By Diego Gabriel C. Robles SOCIOECONOMIC PLANNING Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said he is open to increasing the allocation for the P10-billion-a-year Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), provided that the use of the funds is well-targeted. “It’s not just about the amount of money, but also how that money is used, and (identifying) where that […]
DBM releases rice farmer subsidy of over P8 billion
THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it released P8.05 billion worth of subsidies for rice farmers for distribution in the third and fourth quarters. In a statement on Monday, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said the DBM released the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) to the Department of Agriculture (DA), which will distribute […]
Candidate Marcos says considering suspension of Rice Tariffication Law
PRESIDENTIAL candidate Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said he is open to a suspension of Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law if he is elected in 2022. “We should minimize our imports. I know it is easy to say but it is not very easy to do. It will take a long while. In […]