Mission

Our main goal is to give attention and awareness to the farmers of the Philippines, for we will be the mouth that will speak for them and their eyes that will sight information about what was happening to the outside world. We stand for them, for they deserve rights, respect and dignity. The farmers of the Philippines needs to be seen by the whole country.

Vision

To have a fair trade-in rice market and to gain continuous support with the government in terms of technology enhancement, control on international trade and ensuring that laws are properly enforced.

 

Purpose

The reason why we made this petition is because we want to abolish the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL). Filipino farmers are already starving, crying and dying out for help because as more rice imports entering the country, prices of Palay is falling to as low as P8.00 to P12.00 per kg compared to P19.00 to P21.00 per kg last year. Our purpose is that we want to give Justice for all the hard works and Hard labor of our Filipino Farmers. Isn’t it ironic that Farmers are the ones feeding us and yet they cannot feed themselves? Also it seems like the Local Government does not care about the condition of our Farmers because of the lack of support given to them by our Government Officials, well in fact that they should support our Farmers because they contribute to the 10% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), also without them there will be no food and there will be no future. That’s why we should support and also give attention to the need of our Farmers.

Description

The Rice Tariffication Law was signed into law last February 14, 2019 by President Rodrigo Duterte. Republic Act No. 11203 states that "An Act liberalizing the importation, exportation, and trading of rice, lifting for the purpose the quantitative import restriction on rice, and for other purposes". The law aims to lift the quantitative restriction on rice imports and replace them with a general tariff. Also aims to provide an opportunity for farmers to earn more in the world market. But is it an opportunity for the farmers? Does this law help them? Or it's just a burden and a disadvantage for them?

Can we see the situation of our farmers? Our farmers are crying and begging to be heard. We need to defend our rice farmers; our farmers are suffering and losing their source of income because they are being affected negatively due to the current law. Government officials said that rice retail price would go down to P7 to P10 if that was the case then how will the farmers earn if their income is not even enough for them, for their family and also for their materials in planting. Also, plenty of farmers stopped planting and a lot of rice mills have closed because of this. Isn't ironic that the ones who are feeding us are the ones who can't feed themselves and eat properly. Our farmers are hardworking yet they are getting nothing, they receive a lack of necessary support from the government and they are losing their source of income. Let's defend our farmers and let us be their voices.

Support

We estimated the expenses that we might be spending during this petition. We need 3 million pesos for us to be successful in our petition. The money will not only be spent on the petition but also on the things that the farmer needs for their machinery, fertilizers and other things. We also know that this petition will be brought up on the court and that will cause a lot. We want to have advertisements on different websites and commercials on televisions so more people will be aware of the issue and will also help. We will raise this money through sponsors and run for a cause program.

Contact Information

If everyone has questions or suggestions you may contact and ask us on the following websites.

Gmail: farmersphilippines@gmail.com

Facebook and Twitter Page: Feed the Farmers

Telephone Number: +639654572299

Planning

Brief Introduction

Farmers are the ones suppressed by the type of government we have up to date due to the Rice Tarification Law. They ensure nothing but our satisfaction for the products that they produce. Now it’s our turn to payback for their effort and non-stop labor for us consumers.

As of mid-August the average farm gate price of palay nationwide was recorded at P17.62 per kilo.

Figure 1 shows that’s a whopping 21% drop from last year. Retail prices of regular-milled and well-milled rice, by contrast, have dropped by 10% and 7%, respectively.

There’s considerable variation in rice prices across the regions. Farmgate rice prices have reportedly plummeted to as low as P9 per kilo in Pampanga and P7 per kilo in Nueva Ecija and Bataan. Farmers fear rice prices will only drop further come next harvest season.

Contents of Infographic

Philippine, known as an agricultural country is now suffering from its own identity. Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) or Republic Act 11203 was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last February 15, 2019. The effect of the law was experienced on March 5, 2019, according to the Department of Finance. For the previous months, RTL made the country chaotic. The law's implementing rules and regulation was established last March 3, 2019. It was declared as an urgent issue by Duterte since October 2018. The law was made to solve the worsening rice shortage in the country. The issue was that the price of rice hit 70 pesos per kilo last year. Tony Lambino, Finance Assistant Secretary, predicted that the law will cut the price by 7 pesos per kilo. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also said that it will cut the inflation rate by 0.6 percent. The law permits the liberation of rice imports. It allows the traders to "unlimitedly" import rice to the country. This law will lower the price of rice because of the increase in supply. Thirty-five percent (35%) tariffs from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), forty percent (40%) from non-ASEAN countries if imports are below 35,000 metric tons and below 180 percent if imports are from non-ASEAN countries and above 35000 metric tons. The tariffs will go to RCEF or Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund. Even though the Rice Tariffication Law was signed over a year now it's still a hot issue that was being talked about by Filipino netizens. The Government said that they were doing their best for what was promised to the consumers of rice and especially to the local farmers. According to Rev. Fr. Antonio Cecilio T. Pascual, it is a false promise because for the previous months the netizens and farmers do not feel the changes that the government made. "Sa hirap ng buhay lalo na po ang magsasaka, kadalasan sa land preparation palang nagkakanda utang utang na tayo. Ang ginagamit nating gasolina at diesel panay ang taas. Ang pataba, binhi, pamatay peste at pamatay damo walang control ang presyo sa pagtaas.", stated by Rommel Villacoba Tayao. The local farmers are expected to be the most affected ones. The consumers and farmers will depend on the law of supply and demand because it is the only one that will dictate the state of market prices.

"Death warrant" the meaning of RTL for Kilusan ng Magbubukid. They also said that now that the gate was opened for the foreign industries, they got their opportunity to sell their milled rice in our country. If this continues it will devour the local rice industry. It is very unfair for the farmers, they are paying and working for their livelihood but not gaining because of the RTL, according to Tayao. Federin said that "It is ironic that farmers are the ones feeding for the nation yet they cannot feed themselves." This is the aftermath of the implemented law.