House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto said that the Rice Competitiveness Fund (RCEF) should first be amended to provide direct cash payments or aid to farmers affected by the price ceiling on rice.

In a report by Milky Rigonan on DZRH’s Damdaming Bayan, the aid or direct payouts to farmers under the RCEF are not included and must be sent to the Department of Agriculture.

Under the law, RCEF funds are used for purchasing equipment, fertilizers, and other needs of farmers during planting.

According to Recto, the RCEF needs to be amended in order to implement the conditional-like cash transfer to farmers and allow direct cash payments.

Moreover, the House Deputy suggested that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should temporarily reduce import duties, saying that the fund could be taken from the P38.56 billion peso collection in the rice import tariff from January 2022 to August 2023.

This year, the daily collection of the Bureau of Customs from the 35% import duty on rice is P80 million pesos.