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DA to hold consultations with farmers as bill reinstating old NFA powers pushed
Business
Trade & Industry
DA to hold consultations with farmers as bill reinstating old NFA powers pushed
DA to hold consultations with farmers as bill reinstating old NFA powers pushed
Published Jul 14, 2025 03:37 pm
The Department of Agriculture (DA) will hold on-the-ground consultations with farmers and lawmakers to prepare for the deliberations on the proposed RICE Act, which aims to reinstate the regulatory powers of the National Food Authority (NFA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel said he has directed NFA Administrator Larry Lacson, Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) President Joseph Lo, and DA Undersecretaries Roger Navarro and Chris Morales to carry out the consultations.
Tiu Laurel said comments from farmers and legislators will shape the agency’s contributions to the bill once congressional hearings are underway.
The proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment Act, simply known as the RICE Act, was the first measure filed by Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez in the 20th Congress, the presumptive speaker of the House of Representatives.
The bill introduces another change to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), particularly to restore the regulatory functions of the NFA to intervene in the rice market and prevent hoarding, profiteering, and price manipulation.
With the RTL’s implementation and subsequent amendment last year, the grains agency has been reduced to buffer-stocking and buying rice from local farmers for emergency use.
Through the RICE Act, the NFA will regain authority to register and license grain warehouses, conduct inspections, and sell rice directly to the public.
Tiu Laurel said this bill underscores the lower chamber’s commitment to “correct the flaws” in the RTL that have been “exploited by unscrupulous traders to the detriment of our farmers.”
The bill’s development, he said, aligns with the recent decline in the prices of palay or unmilled rice, which has threatened to discourage future planting of the staple.
Farmers have earlier raised to the DA that traders are cutting buying prices down to ₱11.50 per kilo, below the estimated production cost of ₱12 to ₱14.
“Some farmers claim that private traders are blaming the ₱20 rice program for the drop in prices,” said Tiu Laurel. “That’s simply not true.”
On the contrary, the Secretary noted that the government initiative is accelerating the decongestion of warehouses, which allows the NFA to buy more palay from farmers.
“Every bag of rice sold at ₱20 frees up space for two sacks of palay, which we can purchase at better prices than what private traders offer,” he said.
Based on current prices, the NFA buys palay at a minimum of ₱17 per kilo for fresh harvest and up to ₱24 per kilo for the dry variety.
Apart from returning old powers to the NFA, Tiu Laurel said he wants the proposed RICE ACT to also reinstate to the government “some controls” over rice importation.
He said the importation of the commodity is a “critical gap” that leaves the DA with limited ability to manage the domestic supply.
If not this year, the DA chief said he is optimistic that the bill would be enacted into law before the first harvest season next year, which usually takes place around March to April.