Cynthia Villar, the chairwoman of the Senate Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change Committee, said in an interview on Damdaming Bayan that the Rice Tariffication Law or RTL should not undergo amendments as it is close to expiring, and should be renewed instead.
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The RTL will expire at the end of the year, which will be its sixth.
Villar questioned why changes must be made to the current law when this could be done at its renewal.
Villar also wondered why the RTL was receiving so much heat when the National Rice Program had a budget of P30 billion for emergencies.
The landed price for rice, which used to be P20/kilo, is now said to be P50/kg due to various global events, including India ceasing exports of the grain. If Filipinos find this pricey, and the President is willing to help, Villar said the government should subsidize rice and sell it for cheaper.
Villar said she was not in favor of restoring power to the National Food Authority (NFA) because in 2018, rice was sold at high prices despite its low cost, both landed and provided by local farmers. Moreover, there was no tariff deduction when the NFA imported rice. Villar claims the discrepancy is due to their ties with the cartel.
