Republic of the Philippines HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Quezon City, Metro Manila Fourteenth Congress First Regular Session House

Bill No. __

1_4_02

In March 1996 during the 10th Congress, Republic Act 8178 or the Agricultural Tariffication Act was signed into law. One of the notable aspects of this law was the creation of an Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) to help the farming sector remain competitive amid the country's free trade commitment under the World Trade Organization (WTO); particularly by ensuring that money will be made available for such purposes as irrigation, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest equipment and facilities, credit, research and development, other marketing infrastructure, provision of market information, retraining, and extension services. The sole source of funding for ACEF, as per RA 8178, was tariff collections from all imports under the Minimum Access Volume scheme, which was also defined in RA 8178. However, Section 8 of RA 8178 specifically provided that ACEF will only have a lifespan of nine (9) years, after which, all remaining balances shall revert to the General Fund. That nine-year lifespan expired in March 2005, leaving what remains of the fund largely unutilized. As of December 2005, reports showed that a total of P5.819B was remitted to the Bureau of Treasury for ACEF. Of this amount, P2.768B was already utilized for various relevant projects, leaving an unutilized portion ofP3.06B. Three billion pesos is no small amount for a fledgling economy like ours, still beset with issues of recurring fiscal deficit and shortage of funding support for such a vital sector as agriculture. Congress needs to act, and assure that this amount will remain intact, and shall continue to be utilized for reasons it was proposed and collected in the first place. This can be achieved by amending Section 8 of RA 8178, which is the primary intent of this bill. ACEF was conceived specifically to support the local farming sector, and it would be a inappropriate, even morally wrong, to have what remains of this fund utilized for other purposes. Our farming sector needs, in fact, it deserves, every cent of what remains of ACEF. I thus urge my colleagues in the 14th Congress to consider and approve this bill with dispatch.

Republic of the Philippines

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

Fourteenth Congress
First Regular Session House Bill No. __

1_4_02

AN ACT TO EXTEND THE UTILIZATION PERIOD OF THE AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND, AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8178, ENTITLED "AN ACT REPLACING QUANTITATIVE IMPORT RESTRICTIONS ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, EXCEPT RICE, WITH TARIFFS, CREATING THE AGRICULTURAL COMPETITIVENESS ENHANCEMENT FUND, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives assembled: of the Philippines in Congress

The entire proceeds shall be set aside and earmarked by Congress for irrigation, farm-to-market development, extension roads, post-harvest equipment and facilities, credit, research and

other marketing infrastructure, provision of market information, retraining,

services,

MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES

(MSMSE) IN AGRICULTURE, AQUACULTURE AND FISHERIES SECTORS; YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS, OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH, GRADUATES OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND RELATED COURSES; AGRICULTURE AND FISHERY COOPERATIVES ENGAGED IN ECONOMIC ENTERPRISES
and other forms of assistance and support to the agricultural sector. The Committees on Agriculture and Food, Appropriations and Finance of both

the Senate and the House of Representatives

shall conduct a periodic review of the use of

the Fund. The Fund shall [have a life of nine (9) years] EXIST UNTIL THE YEAR
2015, after which all remaining balances shall revert to the General Fund."

SEe. 2.

A new section is hereby inserted after Section 8 [of R. A. 8178] to be

designated as Section 9 to read as follows;

SEe. 9. OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE - AN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IS HEREBY CREATED COMPOSED OF FIVE MEMBERS EACH FROM THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO MONITOR AND EVALUATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ACT. THE CHAIRPERSONS OF THE COMMITTEES ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SHALL BE THE CHAIRPERSON AND CO-CHAIRPERSON, RESPECTIVELY, OF THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: PROVIDED, THAT THE MINORITY IN THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SHALL BE

ENTITLED TO NOT LESS THAN TWO SEATS EACH IN THE OVERSIGHT

COMMITTEE. THE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SHALL BE PROVIDED WITH THE NECESSARY FUNDS TO CARRY OUT ITS DUTIES RELATED TO THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS FUNCTIONS AS PROVIDED HEREIN.
The succeeding sections shall be renumbered accordingly. SEe. 3. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive issuances, rules and regulations inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. SEe. 4. Separability Clause. - The provisions of this Act are hereby declared to be the validity

separable, and in the event one or more of such provisions are held unconstitutional, of the other provisions shall not be affected thereby.

SEe. 5. This Act shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation. Approved,