PROPER RTL IMPLEMENTATION URGED

BUSINESS groups on Thursday called for the proper implemen Law (RTL), noting that a reversal of the law “will be tantamount to consigning our agriculture to underdevelopment and our farm families to continuing child malnutrition.”

“The RTL is starting to achieve most of the original objectives it was set to attain. Nothing has changed our mind regarding the desirability of pursuing the RTL to the fullest to assist in modernizing the Philippine agricultural sector,” business groups said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The joint statement was issued by the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Bankers Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Makati Business Club, and Management Association of the Philippines.

“It is for this reason why we support the current efforts of Secretary William Dar of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to effectively implement the RTL to protect our palay farmers and preserve the gains of the RTL,” they said.

Lawmakers and rice industry stakeholders earlier called for a review of the RTL due to the continued decline in palay prices.

The law replaced the system of quantitative restriction on rice importation to a purely tariff system as part of the government’s - ply at relatively lower prices.

It also mandates the creation of a Rice Comprehensive Enhancement Fund (RCEF) which provides for P10 billion annually for six years to ensure that duties collected from imported rice will help local farmers.

“Besides its anti- corruption feature, there are other reasons why the RTL should be supported and implemented by the government. First, it helps alleviate poverty and with it, the high level of malnutrition in the country will be mitigated,” the business groups said.

The joint statement noted that 40 percent of the poor family’s income goes to purchasing rice.

“Rising rice prices, as we have seen last year, means that the poor will be able to consume less rice and other food commodities and hence, their nutrition level will suffer. On the other hand, lower rice prices mean improved purchasing power for the poor that will enable them to buy rice and other nutritious food commodities, thereby raising the nutritional level of the family, particularly their children,” they said.

The business groups added that the law also caused the decline in food prices resulting in lower inflation. They said that low food and rice prices in turn, will mitigate the value erosion of the current wages received by workers.

“However, due to the falling palay prices, there is increasing pressure to reverse or repeal the RTL and negate its achievements. This trend is not surprising and was in fact anticipated by our economic managers. As such, they recommended a number of measures that will mitigate the temporary adverse effects of the RTL,” the business groups said.

They noted that RCEF will assist rice farmers and enhance their productivity and competitiveness through seed, mechanization, credit, and extension services.

The business groups noted

Diokno said the volatility in oil prices on account of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and from the potential impact of the African swine fever outbreak on food prices were the upside

The subdued pace of global economic activity, on the other hand, continues to however that interventions should be complementary and supplementary to the “National Rice Industry Roadmap” being formulated to guide RCEF assistance and ensure that its investment will yield maximum returns.

“In addition, the RTL provided for the updating of the existing Registry System for Basic Sector in Agriculture (RSBSA) or “Farmers’ Registry” to ensure that eli the ‘income transfer assistance’ contemplated by the government for farmers tilling one hectare and below. This is on top of the soft loans now being extended to small farmers based on the same listing. Unfortunately, these measures were not fully implemented by the previous DA leadership,” they said.

“We urge the proper implementation of the RTL to ensure that the temporary adjustment problems experienced by our rice sector will be mitigated. And we are sure that out from the birth pains, a new, vibrant and modern Philippine agriculture sector will emerge,” added the business groups.