Marcos to certify bill amending rice tariff law as urgent

Rice prices are displayed at a rice retail store in Marikina Public Market in Marikina City on Thursday, February 15, 2024. (File photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Updated on May 6, 2024 at 12:37 p.m.

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday said that he would certify as urgent a bill to amend the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) to allow the National Food Authority (NFA) to sell cheap rice.

During an ambush interview in Pasay City, Marcos said calls to amend the RTL have come up. The president pointed to high rice prices due to competing traders.

READ: Amendments to rice tariff law pushed

“If there are amendments to the NFA charter and the Rice Tarrification Law, we could find a way to control or influence the pricing [of] palay [unhusked rice] and the selling of rice,” Marcos said.

Asked further if he was planning to certify the measure as urgent in Congress, Marcos said, “Yes, I think it justifies the urgent certification.”

Amendments to the RTL are currently being discussed in the House of Representatives. Last April, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that Marcos would probably certify the measure as urgent.

READ: Romualdez: Rice prices down P15 if rice tariff law amended by June

According to the House Speaker, allowing the NFA to sell cheap rice in markets will allow rice prices to go down as low as P30 per kilogram.

“Our target is by June, we should bring the price of rice down by at least P10 or up to P15, close to P30 per kilo, we will do this by having the NFA bring to the market affordable rice so that people can buy affordable rice,” Romualdez said.