Two lawmakers want the "half-cup of rice" option to be mandated in restaurant menus and eateries for their customers
Quezon 4th District Representative Keith Micah Tan filed House Bill No. (HBN) 9510 and Agap partylist Rep. Nicanor Briones filed HBN 9511,&nbsp;both requiring food establishments to offer "half rice" in their menus.
Under HB 9510, the mandatory half-rice will be 100-gram cooked rice.&nbsp;
Violatorwill be penalized with an amount of P5,000&nbsp; for the first offense, P20,000 penalty will be for the second offense, and the third offense will be a suspension of license or permit to operate for 30 days.
In an explanatory note, Tan stated that the Department of Agriculture (DA)-Philippine Rice Research Institute has called on Congress to revive the proposal, requiring food establishments to be mandated to offer half-cup rice servings to avoid food waste.
According to the lawmaker, the proposal is a refiled version of the previous proposals by President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. when he was still a senator in the 16th Congress and Quezon Representative Rep. Helen Ran in the 17th Congress.
On the other hand, Briones&rsquo; HBN 9511 has a similar penalty for half-cup rice but a difference in the amount of penalty.
The penalty for violating HB 9511 is higher compared to Tan&rsquo;s proposal, which are:
<ul style="color: #252525;">
<li aria-level="1">First offense: P20,000</li>
<li aria-level="1">Second offense: P50,000</li>
<li aria-level="1">Third offense: P100,000 and the suspension of operations for 30 days.</li>
</ul>

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Lawmakers want mandatory ‘half rice’ inclusion in restaurant menus