Opening statement of Sen. Cynthia. Villar during the joint organizational meeting of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM)
August 1, 2024
OPENING STATEMENT OF SEN. CYNTHIA. VILLAR DURING THE JOINT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING OF THE CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES MODERNIZATION (COCAFM)
01 August 2024, Thursday, 10:00 A.M.
Sen. A.B. Padilla Room
The Agenda for today's Joint Organizational Meeting and Public Hearing is the Convening of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the mandatory review and evaluation on the effectiveness of the R.A. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) which was passed in 2019, and is due for extension and amendments.
Under Section 13 of R.A. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law, the COCAFM shall be organized to conduct the review on the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to determine whether the RCEF should be continued, amended, or terminated.
Given the urgency of the issue and the strong demand from the stakeholders for the extension and amendment of the RTL, the Senate Panel invited the House of Representatives Panel for the COCAFM members to convene. However, due to the unavailability of the House members, the COCAFM was unable to meet. Consequently, the Senate and the House of Representatives conducted their reviews independently.
Now that Congress is back in session, both panels of the Senate and House of Representatives COCAFM can convene. So this meeting is being called.
For the Senate:
1. Firstly, the Senate Panel of the COCAFM reviewed the RCEF on May 14, 2024, with Senators Imee R. Marcos, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, Francis "Tol" N. Tolentino, Mark A.Villar, and myself in attendance. A total of 36 stakeholders, including farmer representatives, participated.
2. A public hearing was conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform on its own on June 13, 2024, wherein a total of 19 stakeholders, including farmer cooperatives and their associations were in attendance.
3. Another public hearing was conducted by the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform on July 4, 2024, wherein a total of 17 stakeholders, including farmer cooperatives and their associations were in attendance.
4. To further gather inputs from beneficiaries and other stakeholders, the members of the Committee on Agriculture, Food, and Agrarian Reform of the Senate, along with the COCAFM Secretariat, visited Isabela and Nueva Ecija provinces to conduct Focus Group Discussions from June 26, 2024, to June 30, 2024, where they were able to meet 113 stakeholders.
In total, the Senate COCAFM Panel engaged with 181 stakeholders to review and enhance the current law.
May we hear from the House counterpart the results of the hearings and findings regarding the extension of and the amendment to the RTL.
(Rep. Enverga to deliver the results of the hearings and findings of the House)
Thank you, Rep. Enverga, for your report. I move that the records from all these hearings, along with the position papers and reports from the implementing agencies, and the public consultations conducted by the Senate COCAFM Panel, be included in the COCAFM records. This is to avoid the need for repeating the hearings and consultations, re-inviting the same stakeholders, and re-hearing the reports of the implementing agencies.
We are also circulating these documents for the perusal of the Members of the Panel.
The Senate COCAFM Panel has received a copy of two (2) letters from the Department of Agriculture, attaching the Resolutions of the Philippine Council for Agriculture and Fisheries (PCAF) National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples dated May 3, 2024 and May 27, 2024, respectively.
First, we are acknowledging the May 3, 2024 Letter containing the PCAF Resolution, Resolution No. 03, series of 2024, signed by Mr. Raul Q. Montemayor, in his capacity as the presiding officer of the National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples to reactivate the COCAFM for continuous oversight and assessment of the RCEF.
For the kind indulgence of Mr. Montemayor, the Senate and the House of Representatives, as extensively discussed by Representative Enverga and myself, have conducted their separate hearings and consultations, which are included in the COCAFM records.
Second, we also acknowledge the letter that the Committee received from the Department of Agriculture dated May 27, 2024 containing the PCAF Resolution, Resolution No. 04, series of 2024, signed by Ms. Hazel A. Tanchuling, in her capacity as the Chairperson of the National Sectoral Committee on Rice and Other Food Staples.
In the aforementioned Resolution, Ms. Tanchuling identified recommendations to be considered for the amendment of the Rice Tariffication Law. She suggested several measures:
1. Adopt clear general safeguard provisions in the law and the enhancement of the RCEF credit: The Senate and the House have respective enrolled bills to improve the existing Rice Tariffication Law, ensuring the protection and competitiveness of our local farmers. Both bills include provisions to enhance the RCEF credit, making it more accessible to our farmers.
2. Develop a comprehensive rice roadmap: While this is a valid suggestion, it is important to note that a rice roadmap already exists. As a product of research and nationwide consultation, The Philippine Rice Industry Roadmap 2030 was approved in September 2018, signed by Emmanuel F. Piñol, the former Secretary of Agriculture.
3. Conduct a study on the long-term effects of the RTL and RCEF: Under the RTL, COCAFM is mandated to review the law. Both the Senate and House COCAFM Panels have conducted reviews and hearings. Additionally, the implementing agencies of the RTL - the DA, the PhilRice, the PhilMech, and the ATI are periodically conducting their own evaluation of the RTL and RCEF through workshops, where representatives of the COCAFM are invited to attend and participate.
The Issue that the RTL wishes to address is the competitiveness of the Philippine agriculture landscape and our farmers. Based on the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), we are not yet competitive in comparison the rice production of Vietnam due to - mechanization and the increase in yield brought about by the low quality of seeds.
4. Improve implementation of the law, including training and mechanization: The RTL provides for various implementing agencies, each with specific budgets, to ensure proper implementation. These agencies include PhilMech, PhilRice, ATI, TESDA, and the DA. These mentioned agencies conduct their own trainings to train our farmers to improve their yields. These trainings include: rice production training, farm mechanization training, seed production and certification training, postharvest technology training, training of trainers, among others. We shall distribute the accomplishment reports of the RCEF-Implementing Agencies as presented during the May 14, 2024 COCAFM Senate Panel hearing in the form of handouts.
5. Establish a grains warehouse registration and inspection system: This recommendation is covered by one of my bills, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, as it falls outside the scope of the RTL.
6. Restore the regulatory powers of the NFA and enable the government to import rice or procure it from local traders at the declared import price: I have expressed concerns about the NFA's history and its import powers. I firmly believe that restoring these powers will not lower rice prices. The main objective of the RTL is to encourage and empower our local farmers to increase their yield, reducing the need for the Philippines to import rice from other countries.
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