‘Tariffication may lead to oversupply of rice’By The Manila Timeshome/News/Nation/‘Tariffication may lead to oversupply of rice’FORMER Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile on Sunday warned that implementation of the rice tariffication law might lead to “over supply” of the staple that could affect local farmers. “Farmers will not incur losses if [the government] only adheres to the rice tariffication law and relates [the tariffs] to the reasonable price of the commodity in the country.”The Philippine Institute for Development Studies has projected a 29-percent decline in income once the rice tariffication law is implemented. Repeal itShring Enrile’s concerns, Anakpawis party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao has vowed to file a bill that would repeal the tariffication Law. KMP chairman Danilo Ramos said the tariff law signified “the beginning of the end of the local rice industry.”House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, however, said the rice tariffication law would help ease inflation. Arroyo, one of the authors of the rice tariff bill, had actively pushed for its passage.

Source: Manila Times February 17, 2019 16:50 UTC