MANILA, Philippines — The P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund in the newly signed Rice Tarrification Law will help farmers improve their profitability and competitiveness, Sen. Cynthia Villar said yesterday“We thank and laud the President for signing into law the bill creating a package of support programs for farmers, most notably the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. President Duterte’s economic managers identified rice tariffication as among the measures that would help address soaring inflation. The measure would create the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) as a special rice safeguard duty to protect the rice industry from sudden or extreme price fluctuations. Former Quezon congressman and opposition senatorial candidate Lorenzo ‘Erin’ Tañada questioned the premise that the passage of the Rice Tariffication Law result in lower prices of rice in the market. “The law, which will liberalize rice importation, will at the same time benefit consumers, who include farmers.

Source: Philippine Star February 16, 2019 16:00 UTC