Balisacan backs RCEF extension

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan. File Photo

SOCIOECONOMIC Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan backs the proposed extension of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), but said this will need studies.

“NEDA (National Economic and Development Authority) is looking at that issue,” Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of the 2024 National Innovation Day Celebration on Monday.

“There are pros, there are cons. I would like to think that keeping the RCEF and targeting it well, using it well to improve the productivity of rice is not a bad idea,” he added.

Nueva Ecija 3rd District Rep. Rosanna Vergara and Sen. Cynthia Villar, the Senate Committee on Agriculture chairman, have filed separate measures seeking to extend RCEF by another six years.

Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. also backs the extension of RCEF and wants to give it a higher allocation than the P10 billion annually from 2019 to 2024 as stipulated by Republic Act (RA) 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.

RCEF is funded by tariffs collected from imported rice that reached P29 billion last year.

Of the P10 billion allocated annually for RCEF under RA 11203, P5 billion is for boosting the mechanization level of rice farms, P3 billion for the distribution of high-yielding rice seeds, P1 billion for credit support, and another P1 billion for training rice farmers.

Balisacan said there are certain issues that need to be resolved in deciding to extend RCEF.

“I think the only issue is whether you dedicate that tariff collection from the rice imports to rice only or to become a part of the general fund of the government,” he added.

“For me, using it for agriculture, but ensuring this time that it’s really used for highly productive uses, especially those that will address low productivity issues in the rice sector … I think that will be a good move,” he remarked.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said that extending RECF could partially finance enhancing the productivity of the local agricultural sector, particularly rice production.

He stressed that this would involve greater mechanization and the adoption of technology to boost harvests, increase yields, and bolster local food supplies.

“This, in turn, helps bring down rice and other agricultural or food prices and overall inflation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Balisacan said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has also issued an administrative order reducing unnecessary barriers to imports, especially when there are domestic shortages.

In that sense, “inflation will be averted, so things like that would need to be examined,” Balisacan said.