Palay or unhusked rice prices have plummeted across the Philippines’ rice-

producing regions. In Nueva Ecija, described in elementary textbooks as the Rice

Granary of the Philippines, a kilo of unhusked rice sells for a measly 7 pesos. Yet

rice traders are not buying it. Farmers are blaming the recently signed Rice

Tariffication Law, which they branded as a form of rice liberalization that opened

the gates for imported rice to flood the local industry. Rice is considered as an

economically sensitive crop in the Philippines, which means protections must be in

place to ensure its price stability and production. In the past, the government put a

limit on the amount of rice importation through quantitative restrictions on top of

tariff slapped on the products. The Rice Tariffication Law removed the quantitative

restrictions on imported rice, allowing unlimited amounts of rice to enter the

country, but with higher tariff rates of as much as 35%.

The decades-old plight of Filipino rice farmers has sapped them of their will

to continue tilling land when they cannot even feed themselves or support their

family. For many, they would rather sell their land to real estate developers who

convert precious farmlands into subdivisions. But the issue of the Philippines’

shrinking farmlands is just the tip of the iceberg. The Philippines’ failure to

substantially support farmers through decades of neglect has made farming an

unattractive profession. Farming in the Philippines has become synonymous to a life

of poverty. The ageing population of farmers is also a serious problem for the

country’s food security.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the average farmgate

price of palay fell 4.4% year-on-year during the fifth week of August to P16.68 per

kilogram (kg). Some reports have indicated that traders are offering as little as P7
in some rice-growing provinces. For April to June, the country’s palay output went

down to 3.85 million metric tons (MT) during the period against 4.1 million MT a

year ago. Areas dedicated to planting palay also contracted by 1.87 percent while

yield declined by 4 percent.

The cut in palay output is possibly due to several factors, including the

steady fall in prices, the rates offered by traders, input costs and the effect of the

rice import liberalization law. The El Niño weather phenomenon is also pointed as

one of the reasons for the lower palay output during the period.

Based on the quarterly bulletin, 13 of the 16 covered regions in the report

“recorded (declines) in output with substantial cutbacks,” particularly in the regions

of Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), Bicol and Western

Visayas where about 50,941 MT of palay were lost. Of the regions, only Zamboanga

Peninsula and Northern Mindanao observed increases in production.

Sociologically, rice tariffication law has been passed to lessen the price of

rice. The farmer’s welfare is the most affected. In a 2017 report by the Department

of Agriculture, it was shown that the average age of Filipino farmers was 60 years

old. This means that there is more than two generations’ vacancy in the farming

industry, and very little is being done to fill the vacuum. Many farmers were against

this law because the money that they get in selling palay decreased. As a result,

these farmers are burdened on how they will support their families financially.

By the implementation of the law, large amounts of rice were imported. This

causes the decrease of income of the local farmers. A huge amount of rice are

being sold by the farmers at a low price which also causes them to have loss and

limited amount of cash for another batch of palays to be planted. The sum of
money that the farmers received is not enough for their necessities and equipment

for farming. Rice tariffication is thus the most significant reform. The farmers face

hard adjustments in the early implementation of the reform and they will be forced

to change their way of living to survive. If the government will not move to solve

this problem the farmers should change not just their way of living but the culture

that they have. Going out of their zone is one of the things they should do to

survive.

Rice Tariffication Law, in its political context, was prompted because of the

escalating inflation of rice during the last quarter of 2018. It was created mainly for

the purpose of combatting last year’s inflation and lower the retail prices for

consumers. The government’s suggested way was to let the importation of rice in

the Philippines wherein they can import as long as the set tariff rates are met or

paid. They created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). A fund

which will be generated from tariff revenues of rice imports and will be used to

directly support rice farmers and fund innovative undertakings of the government

to further strengthen the rice industry. It aims to provide support for farmers and

enhance their competitiveness and profitability. For the government, this law will

open up a new door for farmers to export and to contribute and be of great benefit

to the world market.

For social sciences, rice tariffication law is a false promise of the government

though they created this to address the rice shortage in the country and to help the

local farmers. The society considered it as a threat especially to the local farmers

for the reason that their income will decrease and their way of living will be

affected. Social sciences proved that rice tariffication law has a positive and
negative effect to the country especially to the local farmers since they are the one

who will suffer in this new law. However, because the country’s reliance on the

quantitative restrictions lasted so long, the farmers face hard adjustments in the

early implementation of the reform, the so-called transition pains. Rice tariffication

is ultimately to the benefit of the whole people, but we must act quickly to

safeguard the welfare of Filipino rice farmers.

To sum it all, because they see that this law really increases the supply of

rice, it is so easy for them to decide to lower the price of our own rice. They might

think that consumers will be happy because of the lower prices of rice but the thing

is they're not. Our fellow farmers are in peril because of the blatant haggling by

those who purchase these farmers’ palay. Because of the rice tariffication law, the

restrictions of importing rice were gone. This resulted in greater supply of rice that

pushed rice prices down which really made our farmers sad and disappointed. Even

us who don't work are also disappointed because it seems like the government do

not appreciate the hard work of these people and only think for themselves. It may

be saddening for most of us, especially for those in cities who do not understand

the struggle our farmers are facing. The government promised to pass the Rice

Tariffication Act with proper funding in order to help farmers produce better, and

protect them against unfair systems that traders and other importers follow. Do

these actually happen? What is more painful is that our lawmakers still doubt the

data showing the grave economic losses of these farmers. This only shows that

there's really something wrong that we may not know exact yet, but time will

come, it will soon be solved.

 I recommend that even though the price of palay did get low, we do our very

best to buy from them with its original price. In this way, we can still help them

even though it seems like the government somehow doesn’t. Understanding and

realizing that why they are doing isn't the right way will let us know that we must

do something. It doesn't have to be big, but by just simply paying back the amount

that they deserve, it will really mean a lot to them

 RICE
tariffication
LAW

Group
Catapang, Amiel D.
Garcia, Ricky Jr. B.
Barrion, Ma. Hezekian L.
Caguicla, Christine Antoinette B.
De Leon, Kyla Renz M.
De Ocampo, Mari Gwen Aivian E.
Laquian, Angel Maulett M.
Macalintal, Katherine Jennibeth C.
Malabanan, Chezka Ellaine T.
Rodriguez, Frenzy M.
Talangan, Rychelle A.
12- Nobel