Rep. Tulfo to Senate counterpart: Expedite amendment of RTL
HOUSE Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo yesterday called on their counterpart in the Senate to expedite the amendment of the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL) along with the call that the Senate should also push their proposal to return the cheap rice of the National Food Authority (NFA) to the market.
Tulfo made the statement after the House Committee on Agriculture and Food led by Quezon province Rep. Mark Enverga, approved yesterday the amendment of RTL. It was also immediately approved by the Committee on Ways and Means led by Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.
“Nakalusot nga ho dito (sa Kongreso), ang problem namin ngayon is sa Senate. Iba ho yung version nila eh. Yung version noon ng Senate, walang laman eh. Eh wala ho binabanggit doon na NFA,” according to Tulfo, of ACT-CIS partylist.
“So pumasa manho dito, pagdating ho sa kanila, wala rin mangyayari siguro. Eh pakiusap po namin sa Senate, baka pwede naman ho, sumabay na lang ho kayo sa version namin. Isantabi ho muna natin yung mga business interest, personal interest natin. Unahin po muna natin yung interest ng mga tao, ng nakakarami ho sa atin,” Tulfo added.
The proposal was approved in Congress after Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez ordered that its passage be expedited, a day after the president himself announced that he would certify the RTL amendment proposal as “urgent”.
The amendment includes the return to the market of the low price of rice from the NFA in order to solve the continuous increase in the price of rice which has reached more than P50 per kilo.
Speaker Romualdez also announced that this coming July, they will target to have a less than P30 per kilo of rice. This is after they met with the Department of Agriculture to address the increase in the price of rice.
The DA will use the KADIWA centers to sell cheap rice in different parts of the country.
But for the long-term solution, the Speaker ordered Enverga’s committee to immediately amend the RTL to solve the increasing price of rice.
“Of course, we know how important this is to Speaker Martin Romualdez. Gusto po niyang ma-realize na, na mababago natin yung presyo. Gayun din, as announced by the President, he is very much willing to certify this measure. So ito po ay paraan po natin. Para meron po tayong affordable rice para po sa ating mga kapwa,” Enverga said after approving the proposal to amend RTL.
