SAN PEDRO, JONALYN P.
POLICY PAPER SOCSCI1105
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Rice is a complex carb, it is the primary source Republic Act No. 11203was signed by President
of energy for over half of the world's population. Our Rodrigo Roa Duterte on February 14, 2019 things
country is one of the smallest countries that ironically started to change for the peaceful farmers. Republic
produces one of largest amounts of rice in the world. Act No. 11203 also known as Rice Tariffication Law is an
Indeed, agriculture has always played a significant role act liberalizing the importation. exportation and
trading of rice, lifting for the purpose the quantitative
import restriction on rice, and for other purposes.
Farmer leaders simply call this law the “rice trade
liberalization law”, for this law allows any private rice
"It Would Seem That Planting Rice Would importer-distributor to import any volume of rice. It only
Never Be Fun, Especially For Hundreds Of requires a sanitary permit from the Bureau of Plant
Thousands Of Farmers Who Had Stopped Industry. Therefore, in this policy brief, the researcher
The Backbreaking Work In The Field will propose policies and recommendations for the law,
Because Of Falling Prices Of The Staple
not to totally discard RA 11203, but to fairly improve it
Resulting From Import Liberalization."
for the benefit of Filipinos especially the opposing side
of farmers
in the Philippine economy. With more than five million
Filipino farmers compassionate to planting, not minding
heatwaves and mud, we have successfully become
the world's eighth-largest rice production. Farming has
been one of the most essential jobs in the country's
main agricultural enterprise. However, when the
SCOPEOFTHEPROBLEM:
1. The poverty faced by farmers because of the
low pricing of rice productions. CRITIQUE OF POLICY OPTIONS
2. The drastic effects of Rice Tariffication Law with The Republic Act No. 11203 is clearly flawed if
the farming Business and the farmers. we look at the farmers' point of view. With the
3. The drastic effects of Rice Tariffication Law with information acquired in the executive summary, it is
the rice productions and importations clear that farmers are at drastic loss. Farmers are
exerting the same amount of effort but get lower
profits. The unfairness of RTL only favors the lawmakers,
not the ones who actually plant in muds in the middle
of burning suntime.
Taking a good look at the official paper of
Rice Tariffication Law, I have encountered confusions
which I will be listing in the next paragraphs. Section 2
states the Declaration of Policy. It says that "It is the
4. .The enabled cartels of the rice trade which policy of the State to ensure food security and to make
throws poor sectors into a worsened state of the country's agricultural sector viable, efficient and
hunger. globally competitive. The State adopts the use of tariffs
in lieu of non-tariff import restrictions to protect local
producers of agricultural products."
Last February 2020, Philstar reported that
It only tackles selfishly about food security and farmers lost around P68 billion due to the effects of the
competing globally, not minding the state of farmers - Rice Tariffication Law, which saw the influx of more
the ones' who are actually responsible for growing imported rice. The Federation of Free Farmers said
crops. It makes the law flawed as it is injustice to the losses of rice producers exceeded the gains of
other side. Overall the act is all about the importation consumers by as much as P34 billion in the first year of
and exportation of rice which I find cruel for the side of implementation of the law. The losses and aftereffects
farmers. of implementing RTL has been my, the researcher's
push to critique the said law. To renew the Rice
Just like what Willie Lomibao once said "It
Tariffication Law is to favor the rice farmers which
would seem that planting rice would never be fun,
should only be natural from the start.
especially for hundreds of thousands of farmers who
had stopped the backbreaking work in the field
because of falling prices of the staple resulting from
import liberalization."
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Ensure that palay rates are consistent and fair to farmers.
It is only fair to consider the farmers in pricing rice, lawmakers shouldn't just think about global competitions but
the farming industry workers.
Distribute higher-yielding seeds or rice varieties to boost local farmers' productivity and
competitiveness.
Instead of targeting the price, we can enhance our rice and boost the farmers. That way, both farmers and rice
production are helped.
Improve helping Filipino farmers aid their crops, especially rice farming.
Through saving more budget for agriculture, we can improve and help the farmers with their crops' improvement.
Building more irrigation facilities to increase harvest and lower costs.
With irrigation facilities, we are saving and increasing the rate of harvest. It has been effective to other countries
and also in our own country.
● REFERENCES
● https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/02/22/1995025/farmers-lose-p68-billion-rice-tariffication-
law/amp/
● https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/the-importance-of-
rice#:~:text=As%20a%20complex%20carb%2C%20it,rice%20is%20thrown%20at%20weddings.
● http://www.new-
ag.info/en/country/profile.php?a=2551#:~:text=The%20agricultural%20sector%20employs%20about,the%
20top%20four%20crops%20cultivated.
● https://ricepedia.org/philippines#:~:text=The%20Philippines%20is%20the%20world's,4.4%20million%20h
ectares%20in%202010.&text=Seventy%2Done%20percent%20of%20rice%20production%20came%20from
%20irrigated%20areas.
● https://www.yummy.ph/news-trends/rice-tariffication-law-effects-a00260-
20190906#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20main%20issues,Competitiveness%20Enhancement%20Fund%20(
RCEF).
