AS the 20th Congress convenes its first regular session this July, Representative Raymond Adrian “Adrian” Salceda is set to file his first legislative measure—a bill that seeks to increase the National Food Authority’s (NFA) buying price of palay by ₱10 per kilogram, funded through excess revenues from rice import tariffs.
Currently, NFA pays around ₱29 per kilogram for clean and dry palay. Under Salceda’s proposal, that figure could rise to ₱39 to ₱40 per kilo, giving farmers a strong and direct income boost.
“This is my first bill in Congress—direct, targeted, and immediately beneficial. For every sack of clean and dry palay, farmers can earn up to ₱40 per kilo. That’s real income in their pockets,” Salceda said.
No New Taxes Required: Just Use Excess Tariff Revenues
Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Tariffication Law, allocates the first ₱10 billion of annual rice import tariffs to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). But since 2021, excess collections have totaled over ₱38 billion, much of it unutilized.
Salceda’s bill proposes to explicitly allow the use of these surplus rice tariffs to subsidize a higher NFA buying price for palay, particularly for productive farmers delivering clean and dry harvests.
“We don’t need new taxes. We already have the money—we just need to spend it better and put it in the hands of our food producers,” Salceda explained.
Modernizing NFA Storage and Market Response
The bill will also empower the NFA to improve its storage systems, enabling longer shelf-life, reduced spoilage, and stronger market interventions during price spikes or natural disasters.
Key provisions include:
Rehabilitation and modernization of climate-controlled or hermetic warehouses
Acquisition of mobile milling and drying facilities for hard-to-reach areas
Creation of a Rice Market Intervention Fund to ensure rapid deployment of stocks when rice prices soar
“If we ask the NFA to buy rice at higher prices, we need to make sure they can store and rotate stocks efficiently. This bill prepares the NFA for that responsibility,” Salceda added.
A Pro-Farmer, Outcomes-Based Reform
Salceda emphasized that this is not a fertilizer or seed subsidy, but a reward for actual harvest—an outcomes-based intervention that favors efficient, competitive farmers and helps keep rice farming viable.
“This is for the farmers who plant, harvest, dry, and deliver. It rewards performance, not just effort. This is real reform that pays for results,” he said.
As his first legislative act, Salceda said the bill reflects both his roots as the nephew of a respected economist and his commitment to giving voice to the country’s most essential yet underprotected sector.
“It’s time we brought dignity back to rice farming. And fair, stable prices are the place to start,” Salceda concluded.
