SENATE Minority Leader Ralph Recto is pressing the Senate to host a face-off between supporters and critics of the administration’s audacious plan to liberalize the importation of rice.
In Senate Resolution 146, Recto said “the ramiï¬ cations of the rice trade liberalization” should be studied to ensure that “purported beneï¬ ts are realized and the welfare of our farmers and agricultural workers are protected.”
The head of the National Economic Development Authority and other economic managers have been calling for the lifting of the quantitative import restrictions on rice, saying it would bring rice prices down and raise farmers’ incomes as they will be enticed to shift to more proï¬table crops.
Agriculture ofï¬cials, however, have expressed initial reservations on the plan, especially if such a policy would be implemented without providing safety nets that would aid the farm sector during the transition period.
Recto agrees, saying “liberalization without ample and appropriate ï¬ nancial and technical support from the government” would not improve the lot and competitiveness of Filipino farmers.
He said “the sheer number of farmers and people involved and dependent on domestic rice production calls for a plan that will cushion the disruptive effects of such major policy shift.”
“If we have seen how many towns have economically collapsed because of the closure of the only factory in those places, then many towns in the country are basically rice factories,” he said.
Because no public hearings on the proposal have been called, Recto said the Senate should provide the venue where its far-reaching repercussions can be discussed with all stakeholders present.
Recto said a balancing of interests is needed due to projections that while the lifting of import restriction will reduce rice prices by as much as 27 percent, it will erode the income of rice farmers by 29 percent.