MANILA, Philippines — A day after President Marcos certified as urgent the proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law , a House committee approved yesterday a bill amending the measure.
According to Enverga, the still unnumbered substitute bill would be forwarded to the House committee on ways and means to discuss its tax provisions and to the appropriation panel for budget provisions. “I am asking our counterparts in the Senate. Maybe they could tweak their version nearer to ours. Even just the NFA, let’s not talk about the others,” Tulfo added.The National Irrigation Administration is eyeing to sell rice at P29 per kilo by August as it is seen to produce some 100 million kilos of the staple from a contract farming deal.
As of yesterday, the price of local commercial rice ranges from P46 to P65 per kilo while that of imported commercial rice ranges from P48 to P65 per kilo, according to the agriculture department. During the fourth day of the deliberations of lawmakers on the proposed amendments to the RTL, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda proposed that the NFA shall be given the powers to regulate foreign investments in the two agricultural industries.