Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday wanted to implement a lifting of quantitative restrictions (QR) on rice, imposing tariffs on rice instead.
In a hearing, Villar said that the previous provision, the imposition of quantitative restrictions on rice, as of July last year, was already expired. The lifting aims to replace the provision with a legislation removing the QR on rice and instead doing tariffication on rice.
“Ibig sabihin noon, makaka-import na sila but they have to pay tariff. Ngayon, ang tariff na kokolektahin natin, ang prediction diyan ay around P25 billion a year, we will give ito to the programs of the rice farmers para ma-hasten ang competitiveness nila,” Villar explained.
Villar, moreover, clarified the promotion of use of inbred seeds to farmers by funding Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and also mechanization for Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMec) to fund the farmers machineries that will support for their production with lesser labor cost.
“Like for example, we will give money to PhilRice para i-promote sa farmers ang use of inbred seeds. Kasi iyong inbred seeds nila can produce 6 metric tons per hectare instead of the present 4 metric tons per hectare. Parang 50% increase in production,” Villar said.
“And then of course, mechanization sa PhilMech para magbigay sila ng mga machine so that rice farmers can mechanize. Kasi ang laki po ng labor cost natin compared to the Vietnamese because we are not mechanized. So with that maybe after a while, we can produce 6 metric tons per hectare instead of 4, and then at P7, then that means we are competitive already. So hindi na magi-smuggle, hindi na magi-import kasi they will not make money on it because we can produce it at the competitive price, self-sufficient na tayo,” she added.
According to her, the proposed tariff for rice costs 35% for ASEAN and 40% for non-ASEAN countries.
Villar, meanwhile, said that the only possible impact of TRAIN on inflation is the cost, and any agricultural products isn’t affected by tax.
“Actually, ang impact ng TRAIN sa rice ay transport cost. Any agricultural product hindi naman nag-tax. Ang nag-tax lang ay oil. So iyon lang, part of the transport cost na sa tingin ko naman hindi naman ganoon kalaki iyon. Kaya lang minsan may mga retailers tayo na dahil may TRAIN, ginagawa nilang reason iyon to increase all prices when in fact, they were not part of TRAIN. Ang talagang tinamaan lang ng TRAIN is gasoline,” Villar emphasized.
“Alam mo, as a componennt of cost, mahina iyon. Hindi naman importante iyon. Kasi talagang ang question sa bigas iyong productivity. Can they produce rice more per hectare from 4 mtn to 6 mtn to compete with Vietnam. Iyon ang issue sa rice, not the transportation cost. That’minimal,” she added. (Tina Joyce Laceda – PTV)
