THURSDAY / SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
' Go after traders
RICE IARIFF
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By Melvin Gescon
@melvingasconlNQ
The rice tariffication law, or
Republic Act No. 11203, has
failed to bring promised ben-
efits to farmers and is instead
being used by traders for ex-
cessive profiteering.
"ln siniple language, the
reform lintended by the rice
tariffication lawl essentially
stengthened the bargdining
position ofthe traders-that is
the uninGnded consequence,"
said Albay Rep. Salceda
means com-
House ways and'oey
mittee chair.
RA r2o3, which was
signed into law in February,
Iiberalized rice importation in
ttte country an{ was intended
to solve the worsening rice
shortage in the country.
Since its
"implementation,
however, the law has been
widely blamed for the plung-
ing farm-gate prices ofPalaY,
or unhusked dce, to as low as
P7 a kilo, causing an uproar
among rice farmers.
"So mY aPPeal is this: sub'
'tokhang':
.iect these traders to
ldt's look at their warehouses,
irrport records and deliver-
ies," Salcedasaid.
He submitted a. f ive-Page
"aide-m6moire" on Tuesday
to President Duterte and
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano
on measures the national
government can undertake
to manage the fallout.
Salceda urged the Depart-
ment of Justice and the Phi-
lippine Competition Com-
mission to investigate Possi
ble economic sabotage, and
.
the Department ofTrade and
Industry and the DePart-
ment ofAgriculture to inten-
sify monitoring of Price
manipulations.
The Albay lawmaker rec-
ommended thai the govern-
-
ment carry out "resolute ex-
pressions of [its] firmness in
combatting rice cartels."
Salceda said the National
Food AuthoritY should be al-
lowed to borrowfunds to tre-
ble its current buying oPera-
tions from P7.5 billion to
P22.5 billion.
But Salceda reiected Pro-
posals to rePeal or amend
the rice tariffication law be-
' cause it remains a "good
law."
He said traders take ad-
vantage of farmers' lack of
access to storage, drying'
milling and transport facili-
ties nee4ed to sell directly to
the consumer.
"They turned us llawmak-
ersl into fools. ln short, it's
bad traders cheating," Salce-
daadded.. INQ
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