Use excess RCEF collections to help rice farmers—Marcos

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the Department of Agriculture to use the excess collections of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) to help rice farmers.

The President, in a meeting with Agriculture officials recently, said that the excess collections beyond the P10 billion requirement of the RCEF should be used to provide rice farmers drying, mechanization, and other equipment to help them sustain their productivity, the Presidential Communications Office on Sunday.

The RCEF is collected from revenues gathered from tariffs on imported rice, as provided for under Republic Act 11203 (Rice Tariffication Law).

The RCEF is to be used for programs and projects aimed at increasing the competitiveness and output of palay farmers.

In the same meeting with DA officials, Marcos also ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to instruct local government units (LGU’s) to rationalize the “pass-through” fees and other transport costs imposed on vehicles transporting agricultural goods like rice and other products.

President Marcos issued Executive Order (EO) No. 41 on Sept. 25 prohibiting the collection of toll fees and charges from vehicles transporting goods or merchandise while passing through national roads and other thoroughfares not constructed or funded by LGUs.

The President issued the EO to reduce the cost of transportation and logistics.

To help 2.3 million small rice farmers, Marcos also recently approved the release of P12.7 billion to fund the P5,000 financial assistance under the government’s Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program.

The assistance will help small farmers affected by the lifting of the price cap on regular and well-milled rice, the President said.

“The lifting of the price cap is not something we just did for the sake of doing it. This comes with further assistance and support for our agricultural sector,” the President said.

“We will increase what we get from the Rice Tariffication Law and give this to farmers in the form of equipment, tractors, harvesters [and] dryers,” Marcos said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, meanwhile, said the lifting of the price ceilings on regular and