TIME TO AMEND RICE LAW. Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez announces that the House will work to amend the Rice Tariffication Act to allow the National Food Authority to sell rice to the public at affordable prices. He made the disclosure during an ambush interview with members of the media.Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday said the House of Representatives is working on changes in the Rice Tariffication Law to bring down the price of staple by P10-15 per kilo.
“We are doing this because the President said we have to find ways to lower the price of rice. So, what we are targeting is that by June, we should bring the price of rice down by at least P10 or even P15, which is close to P30 pesos per kilo,” he said. As this developed, Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, agreed on the need to revisit the Rice Tariffication Law to enhance its effectiveness and responsiveness to the changing demands of stakeholders in the rice industry.
“The gains and pains of Republic Act No. 11203, the Rice Tariffication Law, has always been one of the main topics or issues in the agriculture sector,” Enverga pointed out.