1 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
HOUSE BILL No. ________ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LANI MERCADO-REVILLA 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FILIPINO RICE FARMERS, 
ESTABLISHING FOR THE PURPOSE THE PANTAWID MAGSASAKANG 
PILIPINO PROGRAM, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER 
PURPOSES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The passage of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) 
removed restrictions on rice imports resulting in a significant growth in rice 
importation and making the Philippines the world’s largest importer in 2019, with a 
record import of 2.9 million MT.   
Flooding the local market with inexpensive rice from abroad reduced and 
stabilized the price of rice.   
While RTL has been celebrated for its benefits to consumers, this same law 
has become a burden for the rice farmers.  The price of palay has plummeted which 
further adversely affected the livelihood of rice farmers.   
In a study conducted by Florencia G. Palis, it was found out that “the poverty 
incidence in the country is highest in the agricultural sector at 34.3%, higher than the 
general population poverty incidence of 21.6% in 2015 (PSA 2015). The average 
annual income of rice farmers was Php 20,000 with an estimated monthly income of 
Php 1,667 (BAS 2012).”  It has been projected that the liberalization of rice 
July 14, 2022
10:28 am
1984


2 
 
importation will further reduce the income of rice farmers pushing the agriculture 
sector to a higher poverty incidence.  
 
To temper the strong impact of reduced rice farm gate prices, the RTL created 
the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) which aimed to improve rice 
farmer’s 
competitiveness 
and 
income 
through 
mechanization, 
rice 
seed 
development, expanded credit assistance and rice extension service that will teach 
farmers with modern farming techniques.   
 
Complementary to RA 11203 is the passage of RA 11598 which provided 
direct cash assistance to farmers tilling less than two (2) hectares of rice land.   
Pursuant to this law, DA is mandated to distribute unconditional cash assistance 
amounting to P5,000 to eligible rice farmers from the Rice Farmers Financial 
Assistance (RFFA) program as compensation for their projected income loss due to 
the drop of palay price. 
 
To further supplement the existing programs of the government for rice 
farmers, the “Pantawid Magsasakang Pilipino Act” is being proposed to provide 
conditional cash transfer to poor farming households through a selection process 
identified by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in 
consultation with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian 
Reform (DAR).  These households are required to comply with certain conditions set 
forth under the proposed law to continuously receive the conditional cash transfer 
that will be sourced from the annual tariff revenue from rice importation in excess of 
Ten billion pesos. 
 
To help alleviate the plight of our rice farmers, immediate passage of this bill 
is earnestly sought. 
 
 
 
 
REP. LANI MERCADO-REVILLA 


1 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
HOUSE BILL No. ________ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE LANI MERCADO-REVILLA 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FILIPINO RICE FARMERS, 
ESTABLISHING FOR THE PURPOSE THE PANTAWID MAGSASAKANG 
PILIPINO PROGRAM, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER 
PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
Section 1.  Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Pantawid 
1 
Magsasakang Pilipino Act”. 
2 
Sec. 2.  Declaration of Policy. – It is the policy of the State to promote a just 
3 
and dynamic social order through policies that provide adequate social services, 
4 
promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life 
5 
for all. 
6 
Towards this end, and in line with the constitutional mandate to Congress to 
7 
give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right 
8 
of all the people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, 
9 
and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for 
10 
the common good, the State shall formulate and implement programs and projects 
11 
guided by a national strategy to reduce poverty in the countryside and ensure the 
12 
sufficiency and accessibility of food products for all. 
13 
Sec. 3.  Pantawid Magsasakang Pilipino Program. – The Pantawid 
14 
Magsasakang Pilipino Program, hereinafter referred to as the Program, is hereby 
15 
established as a national strategy for rural poverty reduction and program for 
16 
ensuring food security and sufficiency that provides conditional cash transfer to poor 
17 
1984


2 
 
rice farming households to mitigate the decline of rice farming incomes that may 
1 
have been caused by the enforcement of the liberalization of importation, exportation 
2 
and trade of rice. 
3 
The provision of conditional cash transfer under the Program shall be 
4 
complementary and supplementary to other similar undertakings of the government 
5 
and shall not be a replacement for any existing programs for rice and rice farmers 
6 
already implemented by any government agency. 
7 
Sec. 4.  Selection of Qualified Household Beneficiaries. – On a nationwide 
8 
basis, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall, in 
9 
consultation with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian 
10 
Reform (DAR), select qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries of the Program 
11 
using a standardized targeting system.  The DSWD shall conduct regular 
12 
revalidation of beneficiary targeting at least once every three (3) years. 
13 
Sec. 5.  Eligible Beneficiaries. – To be eligible to receive cash grants under 
14 
the Program, rice farming households or farmers must meet the following criteria: 
15 
(a) Classified as poor or near-poor based on a standardized targeting 
16 
system and the poverty threshold issued by the Philippine Statistics 
17 
Authority at the time of selection; and, 
18 
(b) Willing to comply with the condition specified in Section 8 of this Act. 
19 
Sec. 6.  Conditional Cash Transfer to Rice Farming Household-Beneficiaries. 
20 
– The Advisory Council created under Republic Act No. 11310, otherwise known as 
21 
the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4PS) Act”, shall determine the amount of 
22 
cash grants to be extended to rice farming household-beneficiaries based on the 
23 
following factors: 
24 
(a) The amount of the annual tariff revenues from rice importation in 
25 
excess of Ten billion pesos (P10,000,000,000.00), based on the 
26 
collection recorded in the second fiscal year preceding the current 
27 
fiscal year; 
28 
(b) The number of eligible rice farming household-beneficiaries as 
29 
identified by the standardized targeting system as provided in Section 7 
30 
of this Act; 
31 
(c) The administrative and financial cost of providing cash grants to 
32 
qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries; and, 
33 


3 
 
(d) Other factors that affect the level of available funding or the cost of 
1 
implementation of this Act. 
2 
Sec. 7.  Coverage in the Rice Insurance Program. – All qualified rice farming 
3 
household-beneficiaries of the Program as identified by the standardized targeting 
4 
system shall automatically be covered by the Rice Insurance Program of the 
5 
Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC): Provided, That the insurance 
6 
premium for rice insurance shall be fully subsidized by the National Government: 
7 
Provided, further, That the amount of premium payment for rice insurance for 
8 
qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries shall not be deducted from the 
9 
appropriations provided under Section 17 of this Act: Provided, finally, That the 
10 
provision of subsidized rice insurance to qualified farming household-beneficiaries 
11 
shall be complementary and supplementary to the conditional cash transfer program 
12 
as provided in this Act. 
13 
Sec. 8.  Conditions for Entitlement. – All qualified rice farming household-
14 
beneficiaries shall comply with the following requirements for continued program 
15 
eligibility: 
16 
(a) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must continue to 
17 
engage in palay production; 
18 
(b) The 
responsible 
person/s 
from 
qualified 
farming 
household-
19 
beneficiaries who actually engage/s in rice production must register 
20 
with the DA under the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture; 
21 
(c) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must propagate and 
22 
use inbred palay seeds to be developed, bred, registered, certified and 
23 
distributed by the Philippine Rice Research Institute as provided under 
24 
Republic Act No. 11203; 
25 
(d) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must apply for 
26 
subsidized insurance coverage as provided in Section 7 of this Act no 
27 
later than thirty (30) days from the date of planting; and, 
28 
(e) At least one (1) responsible person from qualified rice farming 
29 
household-beneficiaries must attend at least one (1) training program 
30 
to be conducted by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development 
31 
and Mechanization, Agricultural Training Institute, or Technical 
32 
Education and Skills Development Authority in their respective 
33 
municipality. 
34 


4 
 
The DSWD may suspend any or all of the conditions for entitlement during 
1 
calamities, armed conflict, state of war or lawless violence, and other similar 
2 
fortuitous events. 
3 
Sec. 9.  Noncompliance with the Conditions for Entitlement. – The responsible 
4 
person of a reported qualified household-beneficiary who fails to comply with the 
5 
conditions set forth in Section 8 of this Act shall be notified in writing.  Further 
6 
payment of cash grants shall be suspended after four (4) months of noncompliance 
7 
and the erring household-beneficiary shall be subject to case management process 
8 
of the DSWD. 
9 
The qualified rice farming household-beneficiary has one (1) year, reckoned 
10 
from the date of receipt of the written notification, to satisfy the conditions 
11 
enumerated under Section 8 of this Act, after which the erring household-beneficiary 
12 
shall be removed from the Program. 
13 
Sec. 10.  Mode of Cash Transfer. – The DSWD shall provide beneficiaries 
14 
with direct and secured access to cash grants through any number of Authorized 
15 
Government Depository Banks (AGDBs).  For localities not adequately served by an 
16 
AGDB, the DSWD may contract the services of rural banks, thrift banks, cooperative 
17 
banks and other duly-accredited financial institutions engaged in money remittance 
18 
services. 
19 
Sec. 11.  Cash-for-Work for Rice Farmers Program. – To provide additional 
20 
income for rice farming household-beneficiaries, the DSWD may, in coordination with 
21 
government agencies concerned, facilitate short-term intervention to provide 
22 
temporary employment to members of qualified rice farming households.  Projects 
23 
that may be incorporated under the Cash-for-Work Program shall include, but not be 
24 
limited to: 
25 
(a) irrigation programs and projects of the DA and the National Irrigation 
26 
Administration; 
27 
(b) public works programs and projects of the Department of Public Works 
28 
and Highways; 
29 
(c) water supply and sanitation projects of the Department of Interior and 
30 
Local Government and local water districts; 
31 
(d) disaster preparedness, mitigation, relief, rehabilitation, and risk 
32 
reduction projects of the Office of the Civil Defense, National Disaster 
33 


5 
 
Risk Reduction and Management Council, and other similar agencies 
1 
of government; and, 
2 
(e) other similar programs and projects of national government agencies, 
3 
government-owned or –controlled corporations, and local government 
4 
units. 
5 
The DSWD shall determine the payment rate of cash-for-work employment: 
6 
Provided, That such payment shall be in no case lower than seventy percent (70%) 
7 
of the prevailing daily wage rate set by the National Wages and Productivity 
8 
Commission. 
9 
The DSWD shall utilize the mode of cash transfer as provided in Section 10 of 
10 
this Act to transfer payment for services rendered by members of qualified rice 
11 
farming households under the Cash-for-Work for Rice Farmers Program. 
12 
Sec. 12.  Lead Agency. – The DSWD shall serve as the central planning, 
13 
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body of the Program.  In the 
14 
implementation of this Act, the DSWD shall perform the following functions: 
15 
(a) Selection and application of appropriate, effective, and cost-efficient 
16 
methods in identification and selection of qualified rice farming 
17 
household-beneficiaries in coordination with DA and DAR; 
18 
(b) Identification and selection of target rice farming household-
19 
beneficiaries based on a uniform, objective and transparent selection 
20 
process; 
21 
(c) Coordination with various national and local government agencies, 
22 
including non-government and private sector organizations, to ensure 
23 
full implementation of the provisions of this Act; 
24 
(d) Establishment of participatory system and methodologies to monitor 
25 
and evaluate the compliance of household-beneficiaries and the 
26 
implementation of the Program; 
27 
(e) Provision of recommendation measures, rules and regulations to the 
28 
Advisory Council in order to improve the delivery of commitments made 
29 
in this Act; 
30 
(f) Determination of program coverage based on a standardized targeting 
31 
system; 
32 


6 
 
(g) Provision of seminar-workshop and training programs to educate 
1 
qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries about the conditions and 
2 
other actions pertinent to this Act; 
3 
(h) Synchronization and harmonization of the implementation of the 
4 
Program with other similar or related programs of the government; 
5 
(i) Submission of an annual report to Congress on matters pertinent to the 
6 
operations and financial status of the Program; and, 
7 
(j) Performance of other functions as may be necessary or incidental to 
8 
the proper implementation of the provisions of this Act. 
9 
Sec. 13.  Reporting. – The DSWD shall publish, on an annual basis, a full 
10 
report on the implementation of the Program during the previous fiscal year.  The 
11 
report shall include, but not limited to, financial disclosures, the number of rice 
12 
farming household-beneficiaries included in the Program based on geographic, 
13 
socioeconomic and cultural circumstances, and recommendations to improve the 
14 
implementation of the Program.  This report shall be submitted, either in printed form 
15 
or by way of electronic document, to the Congress prior to the submission of the 
16 
President’s annual budget.  The Secretary of Social Welfare and Development and 
17 
the Agency’s web administrator or the web administrator’s equivalent shall be 
18 
responsible for ensuring that the said report is posted on the DSWD website. 
19 
Sec. 14.  Convergence of Programs and Services. – Within the framework of 
20 
a national poverty alleviation strategy and a comprehensive food security program, 
21 
the various agencies of government implementing multi-stakeholder programs and 
22 
services for rice farmers shall guarantee that these programs and services 
23 
complement and converge seamlessly with the aim of ensuring that the targeted rice 
24 
farming household-beneficiaries are alleviated from poverty.  Such convergence 
25 
shall focus on the enhancement of operational efficiency, ensuring the realization of 
26 
program outcomes, and strengthening of inter-agency partnerships.  The 
27 
government shall monitor the performance of these agencies to ensure the 
28 
sustainability of their respective programs. 
29 
Sec. 15.  Monitoring and Evaluation of the Program. – The DSWD shall 
30 
monitor and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the Program and 
31 
report its status at least once every three (3) years in order to ensure the realization 
32 
of the objectives declared in Section 2 of this Act. 
33 


7 
 
The Independent Monitoring Committee created under Republic Act No. 
1 
11310, otherwise known as the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4PS) Act”, 
2 
shall be used to complement the monitoring activities of the DSWD in the 
3 
implementation of the Program.  The Independent Monitoring Committee shall 
4 
submit a report of its monitoring activities relative to the implementation of the 
5 
Program to the Advisory Council. 
6 
Sec. 16.  Congressional Oversight. – The Congressional Oversight 
7 
Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) shall conduct a 
8 
periodic review of the Program, considering, among others, the report of the 
9 
monitoring and evaluation activities of the DSWD and the Independent Monitoring 
10 
Committee as provided in Section 15 of this Act. 
11 
Sec. 17.  Appropriations. – The amount necessary for the implementation of 
12 
the provisions of this Act shall be sourced from the annual tariff revenues from rice 
13 
importation in excess of Ten billion pesos (P10,000,000,000.00). 
14 
Sec. 18.  Prohibited Acts and Corresponding Penalties. – Any person, 
15 
whether acting in conspiracy with public officials or not, who by act or omission, 
16 
inserts or allows the insertion of data or false information, or diverts or allows the 
17 
diversion of information that ought to be contained in the registry, or transfers or aids 
18 
in the transfer of cash grant to persons other than the qualified rice farming 
19 
household-beneficiaries, shall be penalized with a fine of not less than Thirty 
20 
thousand pesos (P30,000.00) nor more than One hundred thousand pesos 
21 
(P100,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than three (3) months nor more than three 
22 
(3) years, or both, at the discretion of the court: Provided, That if the offense is 
23 
committed by a corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or any other entity, 
24 
the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers of such corporation, 
25 
trust, firm, partnership, association or entity: Provided, further, That in addition to the 
26 
penalties that may be imposed by the court, the offender punished under this Section 
27 
shall be subject to perpetual disqualification to hold public office: Provided, finally, 
28 
That if the offender punished under this Section is a public official or government 
29 
employee, the accumulated leave credits and retirement benefits, if any, shall be 
30 
forfeited in favor of the State. 
31 
Sec. 19.  Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within thirty (30) days from 
32 
effectivity of this Act, the DSWD, DA, Department of Finance and Department of 
33 
Budget and Management shall, in coordination with other government agencies 
34 


8 
 
concerned and after consultation with directly affected stakeholders, promulgate the 
1 
rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act. 
2 
Sec. 20.  Separability Clause. – If any provision or part hereof is held invalid 
3 
or unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the provision or part not otherwise 
4 
affected shall remain valid and subsisting. 
5 
Sec. 21.  Repealing Clause. – Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
6 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule, or regulation contrary 
7 
to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, or 
8 
amended accordingly. 
9 
Sec. 22.  Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
10 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
11 
 
Approved, 
12 


1