By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said Sunday that Congress is on the verge of amending the Rice Tariffication Law, citing how the two chambers have come to resolve contentious issues in the bill.

“It is still ongoing, but it seems that an agreement between the House of Representatives and the Senate is near,” Mr. Romualdez said in a statement.

Previously, Romualdez said senators were deliberating independently of the House but were open to amending the law.

It remains unclear, though, whether or not senators have already agreed to restore the National Food Authority’s (NFA) power to import and sell rice at subsidized prices.

Senator Cynthia A. Villar, who chairs the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, previously bucked the proposal in House Bill (HB) No. 10381 to reinstate this power to the NFA.

“The main amendment proposed by HB No. 10381 is bringing back NFA authority to import rice and sell to the market in times of rice emergency, experiencing a shortage and extraordinary or sustained price increase,” said Enrico P. Villanueva, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Los Baños Economics Department. “In principle, such a move can lower retail prices in a short time.”

Earlier, Mr. Romualdez underscored that amending the rice law would make the nation’s staple food cheaper.

In doing so, Mr. Villanueva said the important questions to ask are: “At what price or cost to the nation? [and] is this the optimal way to reduce rice prices?”

In July 2010, the NFA’s debt ballooned to P177 billion from the previous year’s P20.9 billion — an eight-fold increase on the back of government’s focus on subsidizing the prices of the staple grain during the 2008 food crisis.

That food crisis “resulted in the NFA’s frantic sourcing from international rice suppliers” to meet local demand, according to a 2020 report by The Asia Foundation.

HB 10381 seeks to expand the budget for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to P15 billion from P10 billion and extend its validity for another six years.

Mr. Villanueva said amendments to the RCEF should be considered the long-term solution in making rice cheaper for Filipinos.

“The RCEF is a long-term solution,” he told BusinessWorld through e-mail.” The premise of [the] Rice Tariffication [Law] is to give consumers access to cheaper rice, with the farmers still protected through tariffs that can also be used to directly compensate them — monetarily or through farm inputs.”

“Amending the Rice Tariffication Law is a crucial step towards ensuring food security and economic stability for our farmers,” said Mr. Romualdez.

A HUMAN rights group called on the government on Sunday to hold police and officials accountable for alleged extrajudicial killings (EJK) to encourage more people to come forward and testify against abuses during the past administration’s bloody war on drugs.

“Seeing perpetrators being held to account — investigated and prosecuted at least — would create a safer environment for these victims to speak out,” Carlos H. Conde, a senior researcher at the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, told BusinessWorld via e-mail. “It would be difficult [for victims to testify] if accountability remains practically zero.”

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) had reported 6,229 people killed as a result of the anti-drugs campaign, but human rights groups claim the number is above 20,000.

“Many of them still refuse to talk to rights monitors… for fear of their safety. Plus, the state has failed to help and secure them — why would they endanger themselves?” Mr. Conde said of victims’ next of kin or witnesses.

The state should acknowledge that EJKs occur due to government policies enabling the culture of impunity to prevail, Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina E. Palabay told BusinessWorld in a separate email.

Aside from addressing the culture of impunity, the government should offer independent legal assistance, psychosocial support, and witness protection to EJK victims and their families, said Ms. Palabay. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio

A PROPOSAL to expand the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Board of Regents (BoR) membership is seen to boost the state university’s research capabilities, a congressman said on Sunday.

In a statement, Quezon City Rep. Marvin D. Rillo said he filed House Bill No. 7821 to add board representation to research and administrative staff, which comprise 14% of the entire staff and student body of the UP system nationwide.

“Our measure, once enacted, will make UP more democratic. It will ensure that every sector in the system enjoys a distinct voice and vote in the BoR,” said Mr. Rillo. “It will also further boost UP’s institutional research capabilities.”

The BoR is the governing body of UP with stakeholder representation in policy-making, which includes students, teaching, and non-teaching personnel.

He said amending the UP Charter of 2008 to expand UP’s BoR would also make staff and student representation in the university “more democratic.”

The UP Board comprises the chair of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the university president, heads of the Senate and House higher education committees, one regent each from alumni, faculty, administrative and research, and student bodies, three regents appointed by the president, and the university secretary. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio