Villar: Rice tariffication to protect local farmers

Senator Cynthia Villar said that the Rice Tariffication bill should be passed into law to protect local rice farmers.

"Ang rice tariffication ay ipapasa namin yun kasi nag expire na yung quantitative restriction ng rice na binigay sa atin nang WTO. So, we have to pass the rice tariffication in order to protect our farmers because we will be liberalizing our rice importation," said Villar who was in Cebu recently to grace the Agri-Fishery Trade Fair as part of the 449th Founding Anniversary of Cebu Province.

The lady senator said that the Department of Finance will implement a National Single Window System at the Bureau of Customs once the country implements rice tariffication to make sure rice importers will pay the right tariff and will not just go into rice smuggling.

Villar also said that the Department of Finance will reform the National Food Authority.

"Kasi under the period of liberalization parang wala nang role ang NFA," said Villar, who is the chairperson of the Senate committee on food and agriculture.

In her speech, Villar said that she has also been focusing on protecting our country’s biodiversity and was happy to note that President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act or Republic Act 11038 that she principally authored in the Senate.

E-NIPAS is aimed at conserving the biodiversity in the Philippines.

The original law, Republic Act 7586, was passed in June 1992 comprised of 240 protected areas.

Villar, who is also the Senate chairperson on the committee on environment and natural resources said that the law increased the number of protected areas covered by legislation from 13 to 107, for a total of three million hectares.

It also recognizes conservation areas and the management regimes of local government units, indigenous peoples and other stakeholders for the establishment and management of protected areas.

Among the 94 new areas placed under government protection under the E-NIPAS law are three Ramsar Sites including Cebu’s very own Olango Island. The other two are the Las Pinas-Paranaque Wetland Park and the Agusan Marsh in Agusan del Sur.

She said that this law is very timely, given the heightened public clamor to protect and rehabilitate our popular tourist spots.

"So, I am one with your province in protecting our natural resources and protected areas. We owe it to the future generation. Next year, your province will be celebrating four centuries and a half or 450 years already, so it is our hope than in the next centuries, the future generations of Cebuanos will still see, experience and take pride in the province’s tourist attractions and natural wonders,"Villar said.

Villar further said that we really need to strike a balance to achieve equally important goals of sustainable development, environmental protection, and economic growth.