Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress

First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL nol 9.16

Introduced by MAGBUBUKID PARTY-LIST Representative FERDINAND “B1” L. BELTRAN

EXPLANATORY NOTE
Ang Saligang Batas ng 1987 ay nagtatakda na tungkulin ng Estado na itaguyod ang isang
makatarungan at dinamikong kaayusang panlipunan sa pamamagitan ng mga patakaran na
nagbibigay ng sapat na serbisyong panlipunan, nagtataguyod ng lubos na empleyo, tumataas na
antas ng pamumubhay, at mas mataas na kalidad ng buhay para sa lahat, Alinsunod dito, tungkulin
din ng Kongreso na magpasa ng mga batas na magtataguyod ng dignidad ng mamamayan, babawas
sa hindi pagkakapantay-pantay sa lipunan at ekonomiya, at makikinabang ang nakararami

Negunit sa kabila ng mga patakarang ito, patuloy na naghihirap ang ating mga magbubukid.
Sa pagpapatupad ng Republic Act No. 11203 0 Rice Liberalization Law, napilitang
makipagsabayan ang ating mga lokal na magsasaka sa mas murang inangkat na bigas mula sa
ibang bansa. Bunga nito, bumagsak ang presyo ng palay, lumiit ang kita ng mga maliliit na
magbubukid, at marami sa kanila ang nabaon sa utang o tuluyang tumigil sa pagsasaka
Samantalang nananatiling pinakamataas ang antas ng kahirapan sa mga probinsya at mga pook na

sakahan, lalo na sa mga rehiyong agrikultural

Ang panukalang batas na ito ay naglalayong itaguyod ang karapatan ng mga Pilipinong
magbubukid sa pamamagitan ng pagkakaloob ng Pantawid Para sa Pilipinong Maghubukid
Program, isang pambansang estratehiya para sa pagbawas ng kahirapan sa kanayunan at pagtitiyak
ng seguridad sa pagkain. Isinasaad sa panukala ang pagkakaloob ng conditional cash transfer sa
mga pamilyang magsasaka ng palay na kabilang sa mahihirap o malapit sa threshold ng kahirapan.
Layon nitong matulungan silang makabawi sa nawalang kita bunga ng liberalisasyon ng kalakalan

ng bigas.


Kabilang sa mga kondisyong kailangang sundin ng mga benepisyaryo ay ang patuloy na
pagtatanim ng palay, pagrerehistro sa Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture, paggamit
ng de-kalidad na binhi, pagsailalim sa crop insurance, at pagdalo sa mga pagsasanay na
isinasagawa ng mga kinauukulang ahensya. Ang mga programang ito ay hindi lamang
panandaliang tulong kundi bahagi rin ng mas malawak na layunin—ang pagbibigay ng sapat na
kaalaman, proteksyon, at kakayahan upang muling lumakas ang sektor ng agrikultura.

Ang panukalang ito ay isang kongkretong hakbang upang ipagtanggol at itaas ang
kabuhayan ng mga Pilipinong magbubukid. Hindi lamang ito pantawid-gutom, kundi pantawid-
kapangyarihan—isang pagkilala na ang tunay na tagapagpakain sa sambayanan ay dapat
tinutulungan, pinoprotektahan, at binibigyan ng dignidad.

Dahil dito, mariing isinusulong ang agarang pagpasa ng panukalang batas na ito para sa
kagalingan ng mga Pilipinong magbubukid at ng buong sambayanan.

Yj Pp

i Lee
HON. POAAND “Ss L. BELTRAN
Kinassde- MAGBUBUKID Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Twentieth Congress
First Regular Session

q
HOUSE BILL nol O16

Introduced by MAGBUBUKID PARTY-LIST Representative FERDINAND “B1” L. BELTRAN

AN ACT
PROVIDING DIRECT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FILIPINO RICE FARMERS,
ESTABLISHING FOR THE PURPOSE THE PANTAWID PARA SA PILIPINONG
MAGBUBUKID PROGRAM, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND OTHER
PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section |. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Pantawid Para sa Pilipinong
Magbubukid Act.”

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
promote a just and dynamic social order through policies that provide adequate social
services, promote full employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality for
all.

‘Towards this end. and in line with the constitutional mandate to Congress to give
highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all the
people to human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities by equitably
diffusing wealth and political power for the common good, the State shall formulate and
implement programs and projects guided by a national strategy to reduce poverty in the

countryside and ensure the sufficiency and accessibility of food products for all.

Sec. 3. Pantawid Para sa Pilipinong Magbubukid Program. — The Pantawid Para sa

Pilipinong Magbubukid Program, hereinafter referred to as the Program, is hereby


Socwrd dsH eeENH

established as a national strategy for rural poverty reduction and program for ensuring food
security and sufficiency that provides conditional cash transfer to the poor rice farming
household to mitigate the decline of rice farming incomes that may have been caused by the

enforcement of the liberalization of importation, exportation and trade of rice.

The provision of conditional cash transfer under the Program shall be complementary
and supplementary to other similar undertaking of the government and shall not be a
replacement for any existing programs for rice and rice farmers already implemented by

any government agency.

Sec. 4. Selection of Qualified Household Beneficiaries, — On a nationwide basis,
the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shall, in consultation with the
Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), select
qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries of the program using a standardized
targeting system. The DSWD shall conduct regular revalidation of beneficiary targeting at

least once every three (3) years.

Sec. 5. Eligible Beneficiaries. — To be eligible to receive cash grants under the

Program, rice farming households or farmers must meet the following criteria:

(a) Classified as poor or near-poor based on a standardized targeting system and
the poverty threshold issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) at
the time of selection: and

(b) Willing to comply with the conditions specified in Section 8 of this Act.

Sec. 6, Conditional Cash Transfer to Rice Farming Household-Beneficiaries. — The
Advisory Council created under the Republic Act No. 1 1310, otherwise known as the
"Pantawid Pami/yang Pilipino Program (4PS Act, " shall determine the amount of cash
grants to be extended to rice farming household-beneficiaries based on the following
factors:
(a) The amount of the annual tariff revenues from rice importation in excess of
Ten billion pesos (P 10,000,000,000.00), based on the collection recorded in
the second fiscal year preceding the current fiscal year;
(b) The number of eligible rice faming household-beneficiaries as identified by
the standardized targeting system as provided in Section 7 of this Act;
(c) The administrative and financial cost of providing cash grants to qualified rice

farming household-beneficiaries; and


(d) Other factors that affect the level of available funding or the cost of

implementation of this Act.

Sec. 7. Coverage in the Rice Insurance Program. — All qualified rice farming

household beneficiaries of the Program as identified by the standardized targeting system
shall automatically be covered by the Rice Insurance Program of the Philippine Crop
Insurance Corporation (PCIC): Provided, further, That the amount of premium payment for
rice insurance for qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries shall be complementary’

and supplementary to the conditional cash transfer program as provided in this Act.

Sec. 8. Conditions of Entitlement. — All qualified rice farming household-

beneficiaries shall comply with the following requirement for continued program

eligibility:

(a) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must continue to engage in palay
production;

(b) The responsible person/s from qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries who
actually engage/s in rice production must register with the DA under the Registry
System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture;

(c) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must propagate and use inbred
palay seeds to be developed, bred, registered, certified and distributed by the
Philippine Rice Research Institute (PRRI) as provided under Republic Act No.
11203,

(d) The qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries must apply for subsidized
insurance coverage as provided in Section 7 of this Act no later than thirty (30)
days from the date of planting; and

(e) At least one (1) responsible person from qualified rice farming household-
beneficiaries must attend at least one (1 ) training program to be conducted by
Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, Agricultural
Training Institute, or Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in
their respective municipality.

The DSWD may suspend any or all of the condition for entitlement during
calamities, armed conflict, state of war or lawless violence, and other similar

fortuitous events.

Sec. 9. Noncompliance with the Conditions for Entitlement. — The responsible

person of a reported qualified household-beneficiary who fails to comply with the
conditions set forth in Section 8 of this Act shall be notified in writing. Further payment of


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cash grants shall be suspended after four (4) months of noncompliance and the erring

household-beneficiary hall be subject to case management process of the DSWD.

‘The qualified rice farming household-beneficiary has one (I) year, reckoned from the
date of receipt of the written notification, to satisfy the conditions enumerated under
Section 8 of this Act, after which the erring household-beneficiary shall be removed from

the Program.

Sec. 10. Mode of Cash Transfer. — the DSWD shall provide beneficiaries with
direct and secured access to cash grants though any number of Authorized Government
Depository Banks (AGDBs). For localities not adequately served by and AGDB, the DSWD
may contract the services of rural banks. thrift banks, cooperative banks and other duly-

accredited financial institutions engaged in money remittance services.

Sec. 11. Cash-for-Work for Rice Farmers Program. — To provide additional
income for rice faming household-beneficiaries, the DSWD may, in coordination with
government agencies concerned, facilitate short-term intervention to provide temporary
employment to members of qualified rice farming households. Projects that may be
incorporated under the Cash-for-Work Program shall include, but not be limited to.

(a) irrigation programs and projects of the DA and the National Irrigation
Administration;

(b) _ public works program and projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways,

(©) water supply and sanitation projects of the Department of the Interior and Local
Government and local water districts;

(d) disaster preparedness, mitigation, relief, rehabilitation, and risk reduction projects of
the Office of the Civil Defense, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management
Council, and other similar agencies of government; and

(e) _ other similar programs and projects of national government agencies, government-

owned or controlled corporations, and local government units.

The DSWD shall determine the payment rate of cash-for-work employment:
Provided, That such payment shall be in no case lower than seventy percent (70%) of

prevailing daily wage rate set by the National Wages and Productivity Commission.

The DSWD shall utilize the mode of cash transfer as provided in Section 10 of this
Act to transfer payment to services rendered by member of qualified rice farming
households under the Cash-for-Work for Rice Farmers Program.


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Sec. 12. Lead Agency. — The DSWD shall serve as the central planning,
coordinating, implementing and monitoring body of the Program. In the implementation of
this Act, the DSWD shall perform the following functions:

(a) Selection and application of appropriate, effective, and cost-efficient methods in
identification and selection of qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries in
coordination with DA and DAR;

(b) Identification and selection of target farming household-beneficiaries based on a
uniform, objective and transparent selection process;

(c) Coordination with various national and local government agencies including
nongovernment and private sector organizations, to ensure full implementation of
the provision of this Act,

(d) Establishment or participatory system and methodologies to monitor and evaluate
the compliance of household-beneficiaries and the implementation of the Program.

(e) Provision of recommendation measures rules and regulations to the Advisory
Council in order to improve the delivery of commitments made in this Act;

(£) Determination of program coverage based on a standardized targeting system;

(g) Provision of seminar-workshop and training programs to educate qualified rice
farming household-beneficiaries about the conditions and other actions pertinent to
this Act;

(h) Synchronization and harmonization of the implementation of the Program with
other similar or related programs of the government;

(i) Submission of an annual report to Congress on matters pertinent to the operations
and financial status of the Program; and

j) Performance of other functions as may be necessary or incidental to the proper

implementation of this Act.

Sec. 13. Reporting. — The DSWD shall publish, on an annual basis, a full report on
the implementation of the Program during the previous fiscal year. The report shall
include, but not limited to, financial disclosures, the number of rice fanning household-
beneficiaries included in the Program based on geographic, socioeconomic and cultural
circumstances, and recommendations to improve the implementation of the Program.
This report shall be submitted, either in printed form or by way of electronic document, to
the Congress prior to the submission of the President's annual budget. The Secretary of

Social Welfare and Development Agency's web administration or the web administrator's


equivalent shall be responsible for ensuring that the said report is posted on the DSWD

website.

Sec. 14. Convergence of Program and Services. - Within the framework of a
national poverty alleviation strategy and a comprehensive food security program, the
various agencies of government implementing multi-stakeholder programs and service for
rice farmers shall guarantee that these programs and services complement and converge
seamlessly with the aim of ensuring that the targeted rice farming household-beneficiaries
are alleviated from poverty. Such convergence shall focus on the enhancement of
operational efficiency, ensuring the realization of program outcomes, and strengthening of
inter-agency partnerships. The government shall monitor the performance of these

agencies to ensure the sustainability of their respective programs.

Sec. 15. Monitoring and Evaluation of the Program. — The DSWD shall monitor
and evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the Program and report its status at
least once every three (3) years in order to ensure the realization of objectives declared in
Section 2 of this Act.

The Independent Monitoring Committee created under Republic Act No. 1 1310,
otherwise known as the "Pantawid Pamilyang Plipino Program (4Ps) Act," shall be used
to complement the monitoring activities of the DSWD implementation of the Program. The
Independent Monitoring Committee shall submit a report of its monitoring activities
relative to the implementation of the Program to the Advisory Council.

Sec. 16. Congressional Oversight. - The Congressional Oversight Committee on
Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) shall conduct periodicreview of the
Program, considering, among others, the report of the monitoring and evaluation activities
of the DSWD and the Independent Monitoring Committee as provided in Section 15 of this
Act.

Sec. 17. Appropriations. — The amount necessary for the implementation of the
provision of this Act shall be sourced from the annual tariff revenues from rice importation
in excess of Ten Billion pesos (P 10,000,000,000.00) .

Sec. 18. Prohibited Acts and Corresponding Penalties. — Any person, whether
acting in conspiracy with public officials or not, who by act or omission, inserts or allows
the insertion of data or false information, or diverts or allows the diversion of information

that ought to be contained in the registry, or transfers or aids in the transfer of cash grant


to persons other than the qualified rice farming household-beneficiaries, shall be
penalized with a fine of not less than thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00) nor more than
one hundred thousand pesos (PI 00,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than three (3)
months nor more than three (3) years, or both, at the discretion of the court: Provided,
That if the offense is committed by a corporation, trust, firm, partnerships, association or
any other entity, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers of such
corporation, trust, firm, partnership, association or entity: Provided, further, That in
addition to the penalties that may be imposed by the court the offender punished under
this section shall be subject to perpetual disqualification to hold public office: Provided,
finally, That if the offender punished under this section is a public official or government
employee, the accumulated leave credits and retirement benefits. if any. shall be forfeited
in favor of the State.

Sec. 19. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within sixty (60) days from
effectivity of this Act, the DSWD, DA, Department of Finance and Department of Budget
and Management shall, in coordination with government agencies concerned and after
consultation with directly affected stakeholders, promulgate the rules and regulations to

effectively implement the provision of this Act.

Sec. 20. Separability Clause. - If any portion of this Act is declared invalid or
unconstitutional, the portions or provisions which are not affected shall continue to be in

full force and effect.
Sec. 21. Repealing Clause. — All laws, acts, decrees, executive orders, issuances,
and rules and regulations or parts thereof which are contrary to and inconsistent with this

Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Sec. 22. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the

Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,