Amid public doubts, Agriculture Secretary William Dar, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez are confident on the positive impact of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to the Philippine rice industry.

“We want the Rice Tariffication Law to work for farmers, for consumers. At the end of the day, this is a reform that has been long and wanting to come. This is the day for us to make it work,” Secretary Dar explained the stand of the government.

He also urged the public to give the new law a chance for proper implementation.

In terms of requests for the revision or suspension of RTL, Dar said that in the future, “if there will be little adjustments to make it much more effective, then that’s the period we shall revisit. But now, pagbigyan naman itong bagong batas.”

The secretaries and the officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) also presented measures to make the RTL work during The Rice Trader (TRT) 11th World Rice Conference on November 13, 2019 in Makati.

Secretary Dominguez discussed overcoming the transition pains and moving forward with the initial impact of the RTL. He also urged everyone to trust the law and called for collaboration against corruption.

“We have finally broken the strangle-hold of inefficiency in our rice industry. We have taken a bold step forward, trusting market forces to guide our rice sector towards modernization,” he said.

For Secretary Lopez, RTL is a better plan for inclusive growth and shared prosperity.

“We’re confident that the rice tariffication holds the key to ensure rice supply in the country,” Lopez said before discussing the “Presyong Risonable Dapat Program” that aims at increasing the accessibility and availability of rice in the market.

In addition, the secretaries called for fair rice trade and stricter issuance of the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) Import Clearance or SPSIC.

Dar told the commercial and professional rice industry participants of the TRT World Rice Conference that the Philippine government will continue to strictly implement the guidelines before the issuance of the SPSIC, thus they should respect the rules. ### (Gumamela Celes Bejarin, DA-AFID)