Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said that the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) is the best model that we have to help both farmers and consumers. 
 
Republic Act No. 11203 or the RTL replaced the quantitative restrictions on imported rice with tariffs of 35 to 40 percent and established the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) funded by the tariff revenues. 
 
“By removing quantitative restrictions, we are able to address both the needs of consumers for a lower retail price of rice and use the tariff revenues to fund the RCEF and provide even more assistance to farmers with excess tariff revenues,” Chua said in a statement.
 
Chua said that contrary to the claims of some critics of the reform, the increase in importation did not hurt local rice production.
 
The RCEF consists of an annual appropriation of 10 billion pesos in six years to fund programs for farm mechanization, seed development, propagation and promotion, credit assistance, and extension services.
 
These programs were specifically identified to improve the productivity of rice farmers, reduce production costs, and link them to the value chain.
 
The excess from the 10 billion pesos tariff revenue collection will be appropriated by Congress the following year for the direct financial assistance to rice farmers, titling of agricultural rice lands, expanded crop insurance program, and crop diversification program. 
 
“Last year, we collected 18.9 billion pesos from rice tariff collections. We gave all that back to rice farmers. Those calling for the removal of the RTL risk taking away what we are giving to farmers to improve their productivity,” Chua said.
 
“Further lowering the price of rice for all Filipinos is really possible if we help farmers improve productivity. That is exactly what the RTL is doing by providing them with mechanization, seeds, and other support,” he added.