FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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5 .itL 21 +5 ‘3’ 
Second Regular Session 
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S. B. No. 
INTRODUCED BY HONORABLE MAR ROXAS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Rice accounts for 25% of food expenditures of the poorest 30% of the Filipino 
population. Two out of every three poor persons are dependent on agriculture for 
employment and sustenance. Thus, rice prices have a significant impact on the well-being of 
the Filipinos, including small rice farmers who are net buyers of rice for household 
consumption. 
The first half of 2008 had ushered in an alarming series of rice price increases. 
Domestic selling price of rice, which is now at Php37.OOkg for regular-milled rice and 
Php39.00kg for well-milled rice, was only at Php22.43kg for regular-milled rice and 
Php24.69kg for well-milled rice at this time last year. The increasing price of crucial inputs 
to farming such as fertilizer and fuel has also been unprecedented. The optimal amount of 
urea (at 46% nitrogen) per one hectare of irrigated land is 4 bags. However one bag of urea 
(at 46% nitrogen) now costs P1800, or double the prices from June 2007. In other words, if 
incomes did not significantly change from last year, farmers may be purchasing/affording just 
half the prescribed amount per hectare. 
Moreover, computations indicate that subsidizing production on irrigated land 
through fertilizer support can contribute to closing the immediate rice supply gap at 1/5 the 
cost of importing the same amount through NFA. Specifically, producing rather than 
importing an average of 2 million MT of rice would require harvesting an additional 1.1 MT 
of palay per hectare per crop of irrigated land, which is equivalent to the application of an 
additional 1 bag of urea (for a total of 5 bags) per hectare per crop of irrigated land. 
Subsidizing this extra bag in addition to subsidizing a base of two bags per hectare which are 
now unaffordable due to higher prices - or a total of 3 bags of urea per hectare per crop of 
irrigated land, will cost an estimated 15 billion pesos, or approximately 20% of NFA imports 
of the same amount. 
It is evident then that not only is there is an urgent need to revive the rice economy - 
to minimize the country’s vulnerability to future external shocks and to reduce supply and 
price volatility - but that in the immediate term, the rice supply gap can be minimized at 
much less cost than what is usually resorted to. Thus, this proposed measure seeks to 
mandate an immediate fertilizer support to Filipino farmers of irrigated land in the form of a 
“buy 2-take 3” subsidy scheme where farmer beneficiaries will receive in-kind 3 bags of urea 
fertilizer per hectare of irrigated rice farm actually tilled to supplement 2 bags already 


privately purchased. This will ensure that farmers are able to use the prescribed amount of 
fertilizer per hectare, plus one more, to increase rice yields. 
In conjunction with this, long overdue reforms and restructuring in the National 
Food Authority will be initiated as a preparatory step toward the long-term goal of rice self- 
suffkiency for our country. This bill thus paves the way for redesigning NFA into a buffer 
stock management agency that will check and maintain the rice reserve requirement of the 
country. Necessary steps to make registration processes more efficient and its corresponding 
fees more affordable shall also be undertaken by the NFA in order to encourage private 
sector participation in rice importation. 
Fertilizer prices have more than doubled over the last two years, making optimal 
usage unaffordable and optimal palay yields unattainable. Combining fertilizer support with 
initiatives to reorient the NFA into a buffer stock management agency, away from its 
importation function, will set the stage to correct rice market distortions that have been 
created by NFA intervention in the market over the last three decades. 
In view of the foregoing, urgent approval of this bill is earnestly requested. 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Second Regular Session 
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INTRODUCED BY HONORABLE MAR R O U S  
AN ACT 
TO INCREASE SHORT TERM GRAIN AVAILABILITY, MINIMIZE 
WLNERABILITY TO EXTERNAL PRICE AND SUPPLY SHOCKS AND 
ACHIEVE IMMEDIATE RICE SECURITY, MANDATING FOR THAT 
PURPOSE THE CREATION OF A FERTILIZER SUPPORT MECHANISM 
AND THE RESTRUCTURING AND REORIENTATION OF THE NATIONAL 
FOOD AUTHORITY, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR 
OTHER PURPOSES. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
CHAPTER 1 
GENERAL 
PROVISIONS 
SECTION 1. Short Title - This Act shall be known as the "Immediate Rice Security Act 
of 2008. " 
SEC. 2. Declaration ofPolicy. The State hereby reaffirms the fundamental right of 
every person to adequate food and to be free from hunger. Toward this end, the State shall 
provide immediate strategic measures to ensure short-term availability of grain, particularly 
the staple food rice and the sustained productivity growth of agriculture. Thus, interventions 
that ensure the availability and accessibility of crucial inputs to farming, especially fertilizer, 
shall be ,carried out by the State to maximize rice production in order to increase the yield 
and meet the national requirement 
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The initiation and execution of key reforms to address crucial rice market distortions 
and to minimize the country’s vulnerability to external price and supply shocks is hereby 
further declared a State policy. Pursuant to this, the reorientation and transformation of the 
National Food Authority into a buffer stock management agency shall be undertaken and the 
implementation of measures that make private sector participation in rice importation more 
feasible and accessible shall be prioritized. 
CHAPTER 2 
FERTILIZER 
SUPPORT PROGRAM 
SEC. 3. Creation of the FertiIizer Support Program. - As the mechanism for extending 
government fertilizer counterpart to the farmers, a Fertilizer Support Program (FSP) is 
hereby created which shall be implemented per cropping season over the next fiscal year 
immediately succeeding the enactment of this Act or for the duration of the rice crisis as 
determined by the President upon recommendation of the Department of Agriculture, 
whichever is longer. 
The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), in coordination with the Department of 
Agriculture, shall be the primary agency tasked with the implementation of the FSP. The 
FPA shall, within sixty (60) days from the enactment of this Act, formulate the necessary 
rules and regulations for the implementation of the Fertilizer Support Program created by 
this Act. 
Sec. 4. Fedizer Subsidy Mechanism. - The FSP shall provide “buy-two-take-three” 
in-kind urea (46% nitrogen) subsidy to qualified farmers of irrigated land duly recognized by 
and registered with the municipal agricultural offices (MAO) of their local government units. 
Upon presentation of proof of procurement of two bags from a FPA registered fertilizer 
dealer or retailer, the FPA designated distribution centers shall give out the corresponding 
amount of in-kind urea subsidy to MAO-registered farmer-beneficiaries ; Provided, however, 
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that the amount of urea granted to each farmer shall not be less than two (2) 50-kgs. bags or 
more than three (3) 50 kgs. bags per hectare. 
Sec. 5. Identification ofFamer Beneficianhs. -Each municipal agriculture office shall 
submit a inasterlist of qualified farmer-beneficiaries, together with the corresponding area of 
their ricefield to the Department of Agriculture. For the purpose of the Fertilizer Support 
Program created under this Chapter, qualified farmer-beneficiaries must: 
a. Be an actual tiller; 
b. Have a fully irrigated riceland; and 
c. Undertake that he will apply the urea in his ricefield. 
SEC. 6. Fertilizer Procurement. -The FPA, pursuant to their charter, shall promulgate 
the necessary rules and regulations for the importation of the required urea under the FSP; 
Provided that procurement shall be conducted through the government open competitive 
bidding in accordance with the harmonized procedures on procurement under Republic Act 
9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act; Pruvided firther, that the urea imported 
shall be directly shipped to the respective FPA distribution centers. 
SEC. 7. Monitoring and Assessment. -The Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority, through 
their Provincial FPA Coordinators, shall monitor the distribution and use of urea under the 
FSP, as well as fertilizer availability, prices and movements. The Department of Agriculture 
shall design a reporting system for the regional field units to monitor and assess the impact of 
the FSP on rice farm productivity. The MAFC shall assist the Provincial FPA Coordinators 
in the monitoring and evaluation of the program. 
SEC. 8. Prohibited Acts. -For the purpose of this Chapter, any person who engages in 
any fraudulent transaction or manipulative activity in order to influence the outcome of the 
public bidding process, or engages in simulated or fictitious procurement process leading to 
the awarding of a contract for the supply of fertilizers, shall suffer the penalty of 
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imprisonment of not less than twelve (12) years and one (1) day nor more than twenty (20) 
years, without prejudice to separate criminal prosecution under Republic Act No. 3019, 
otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other penal laws. 
CHAPTER 3 
&ORIENTATION OF THE NATIONAL 
FOOD AUTHORITY 
SEC. 9. Reforms in the National Food Author+ - The National Food Authority shall, 
within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act, formulate and implement guidelines to 
phase out its participation in rice importation: Provided that the NFA shall undertake a 
comprehensive review of its plans and programs and redesign the same to focus on the 
management and maintenance of proper levels of buffer stock requirements of the country. 
SEC. 10. Rice Importation. - The NFA shall establish rules and regulations that will 
make participation in importation of rice more feasible and accessible to the private sector. 
Within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act, the NFA shall have amended its 
guidelines to facilitate and allow for a shorter registration process and reduced associated fees 
to encourage private sector, especially farmer organizations’ participation in the rice 
importation business. Along with this, the NFA shall implement necessary restructuring in 
their programs in order to make vital information that ensure timely and sufficient 
importation of rice available to duly registered rice importers. 
CHAPTER 4 
FINAL PROVISIONS 
SEC. 11. Congressional Oversight Committee. - For the effective implementation of 
this Act, a Congressional Oversight Committee on Rice Security Program is hereby created, 
hereinafter referred to as the Rice Security Program Oversight Committee, to be composed of 
five (5) members each from the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Rice Security 
Program Oversight Committee shall be jointly chaired by the Chairs of the Committee on 
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Agriculture and Food of both Houses, with the Chairs of the Committee on Trade and 
Commerce of both Houses acting as vice-chairs. They shall meet bi-annually to monitor and 
review the status of implementation of the provisions of this Act. For this purpose, the Rice 
Security Program Oversight Committee shall have the power to require the submission of 
status reports and other necessary data and information. 
SEC. 12. Appropnktions. - For purposes of the FSP created under Chapter 2 of this 
Act, a special fertilizer support fund, which will be used by the FPA in the importation of 
urea under this program, in the amount of Fifteen Billion pesos (Php15,000,000,000.00) per 
cropping season for the fiscal year immediately following the enactment of this Act, shall be 
specially appropriated, released to and administered by the FPA; Provided, 
that 
appropriations for the FSP shall continue and be maintained for the duration of the rice crisis 
as determined by the President pursuant to Section 3 of this Act. 
SEC. 13. Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Agriculture, in consultation 
with relevant government agencies and LGUs, farmer organizations and other stakeholders, 
shall, within one hundred twenty (120) days from the effectivity of this Act, promulgate the 
necessary rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 14. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act 
shall be held unconstitutional or invalid, the other section or provision not otherwise 
affected shall remain in full force and effect. 
SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, 
proclamations, rules and regulations which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act 
are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 16. Effecfiviv Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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2 Approved,