Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. called the recently-signed Rice Tariffication Law as “anti- farmer and pro-importer.”
“(Prices) of imported rice are not expensive because they have the support of their respective government while here we lack that support”, Marañon said.
The governor said that in order to compete with imported rice, “local farmers should strive for better productivity.”
The province is also striving to be rice sufficient, Marañon said.
Under the Rice Tariffication Law, imported rice are allowed to enter the country. It was triggered by the rice shortage and high prices of rice last year when the inflation rate in the country hit the highest level.
In 2017, per report of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, the province was about 93 percent rice sufficient.
Meanwhile, Marañon said he hopes that the proposed Sugar Import Liberalization won’t be approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Rice tariffication and sugar liberalization are two different things”, Marañon pointed out amid statements from some groups that the two policies are the same because they allow imported products to flood the country.* (NDB)