Section 5Sec./Art. 5

Section 13 of Republic Act No. 8178, as amended by Republic Act No. 11203, is hereby further amended as follows:

"Section 16. Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF). - There is hereby created a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which shall be sourced from all tariffs collected from the importation of rice. The RCEF shall consist of an annual appropriation of Thirty billion pesos (P30,000,000,000.00) until the year 2031, following the approval of this Act, and shall be automatically credited to a Special Account in the General Fund of the National Treasury which shall be established within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act.

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The amount allocated shall be released directly to the implementing agencies as provided in this Act based on the objectives and plans of the rice industry roadmap: Provided, That the unutilized portion of the RCEF allocated to the implementing agencies and collections from repayments by loan beneficiaries including interests, if any, shall not revert to the General Fund: Provided, further, That any excess in the annual tariff collection of Thirty billion pesos (P30,000,000,000.00) shall be added to the RCED and allocated and disbursed to the implementing agencies following the allocation provided in this section: Provided, finally, That if the annual tariff collection from imported rice falls below Thirty billion pesos from imported rice falls below Thirty billion pesos (P30,000,000,000.00), the deficiency shall be sourced from the DA budget as provided in the General Appropriations Act, subject to the guidelines issued by the Department of Finance (DOF).

Fund releases charged against the RCEF shall not be subject to any ceiling by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Subject to the usual accounting and auditing rules and regulations, the RCEF shall be allocated and disbursed to rice-producing areas, as follows:

(a) Rice Farm Machineries and Equipment - Nine billion pesos (P9,000,000,000.00) of the RCEF shall be released to and implemented by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHilMech) as grant in kind to eligible farmers associations, registered rice cooperatives, and LGUs, according to their choice, in the form of rice farm equipment, such as tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters, irrigation pumps, small solar irrigation, reapers, dryers, millers and postharvest and processing facilities such as warehouses, grain storage facilities, and drying facilities: Provided, That the PHilMech shall procure from accredited manufacturers and local machine fabricators to spur the establishment of farm-level fabrication, repair, and maintenance of farm implements and equipment and to assist in the promotion of locally manufactured farm machineries and equipment and ensure their maximum utilization:

Provided, further, That Four hundred twenty-five million pesos (P425,000,000.00) of the allocation for rice farm machineries and equipment under this subparagraph shall be allotted for the promotion, establishment, support, and development of Fabrication, Repair, and Maintenance Centers (FARM-Cs) of farm machinery, equipment, and tools, including grants to be given every year to at least two (2) FARM-Cs in each RCEF rice-producing province. The PHilMech shall continuously collaborate with existing and emerging FARM-Cs nationwide. For this purpose, FARM-Cs shall set up machine shops and fabrication hubs in rural areas which will repair the existing agricultural equipment of farmers cooperatives, associations, and LGUs given under the RCEF.

(b) Rice Seed Development Propagation, and Promotion. - Six billion pesos (P6,000,000,000.00) of the RCEF shall be released to and implemented by the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) and used for the development, propagation, distribution, and promotion of high quality inbred rice seeds to rice farmers and the organization of rice farmers into seed growers associations and/or cooperatives engaged in seed production and trade.

(c) Other Priority Programs, Activities, and Projects. - Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the President is hereby authorized to allocate the amount of Fifteen billion pesos (P15,000,000,000.00) to programs, activities, and projects that will most effectively promote farmers productivity, supply resiliency, and address food security emergency situations on rice due to supply shortage or extraordinary increase in prices, in the following order of priority:

(1) Rice training and extension services provided by PhilMech, PhilRice, the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

(2) Financial assistance to rice farmers tilling up to two (2) hectares of rice land which shall be released to the DA-Office of the Secretary (DA-OSEC) for direct cash distribution to qualified farmers. The DA-OSEC shall devise a mechanism for the distribution of cash assistance which will ensure that all farmers tilling up to two (2) hectares of rice land listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) shall directly receive the cash assistance. The BOC is hereby mandated to directly remit the said funds to the DA;

(3) Expanded Rice Credit Assistance which shall be made available in the form of credit facility with minimal interest rates and with minimum collateral requirements to rice farmers and cooperatives, to be managed equally by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

The credit assistance component of the RCEF shall operate as a revolving fund, with the principal and interest payments on loans made from the fund re-deposited into the fund and made available for new loans to eligible beneficiaries, in accordance with budgeting, accounting, auditing, and pertinent laws, rules, and regulations.

(4) Composition facilities for biodegradable wastes which shall be used to address the micronutrient deficiencies in the soil;

(5) Pest and disease management;

(6) Solar-powered water irrigation or water impounding irrigation project;

(7) Soil health improvement; and

(8) Farming support programs of the DA and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) on contract farming program.

The BOC and the DA shall, at the end of each year, submit separate reports on the annual remittance and disbursement of funds to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform and disbursement of funds to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform and the House Committee on Agriculture and Food: Provided, That the amounts herein allocated shall be reviewed on the third year of the effectivity of this Act for possible revisions should intervention priorities change: Provided, further, That preferential attention should be given to rice farmers, cooperatives, and associations adversely affected by the tarrification of the quantitative import restriction on rice in accordance with the thrust and priorities of Republic Act No. 8435, otherwise known as the "Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997", as amended, and the Philippine Development Plan (PDP).

The increase or decrease of farmers' incomes shall be the primary benchmark in granting these interventions.

The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM) shall conduct a periodic review of the use of the RCEF.

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) shall conduct an independent baseline study, as well as mid-term and end-term evaluation of this Act, which shall be submitted to the COCAFM."