[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2084, June 15, 1958 ]
AN ACT TO PROMOTE RICE AND CORN PRODUCTION
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section 1. This Act shall be known as the Rice and Corn Production Act of 1958.
Section 2. It is hereby declared to be the national policy to attain self-sufficiency in rice and corn at the earliest possible time and to provide adequate measures to insure permanent stability in the production of these cereals by marshalling all government agencies to increase rice and corn production at a minimum cost.
Section 3. To achieve this objective of increased production, a four-year rice and corn production program shall be planned and executed under the direct control and management of a Rice and Corn Coordinating Council to be composed of the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, as Chairman and Coordinator, the Directors of the Bureaus of Plant Industry, Public Works, Soils, Agricultural Extension, Animal Industry, Lands, and Mines, the Dean of the U.P. College of Agriculture, a representative of the Department of General Services, the Administrator of the Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA), and the Manager of the National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC), as members. The Council shall be responsible for the success of the promotion of rice and corn production; it shall formulate the overall policies and methods that will guide the implementation of the program. The Chairman and Coordinator shall be the presiding officer of the Council and shall be primarily responsible for the execution of the policies and methods that the Council shall formulate from time to time, with powers to direct participating agencies to perform their part in the program. The Coordinator, with the approval of the Coordinating Council, is hereby authorized to promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act. In the attainment of the objectives of the program, the Coordinator may organize such teams of technical men from the Bureaus of Plant Industry, Agricultural Extension, Animal Industry, Soils, Lands, Mines, and Public Works, the Department of General Services, the U.P College of Agriculture, ACCFA, NARIC and such other agencies that he may designate after consultation and approval of the Council, to supervise the execution of the program and such other personnel as are necessary for the successful prosecution of the plans as outlined in the four-year rice and corn production program: Provided, however, That the amount for personnel shall not exceed five per centum of the appropriation authorized by this Act: And provided, further, That all appointments of additional personnel shall be subject to the approval of the Coordinating Council.
Section 4. The rice and corn production program envisioned in this Act shall cover the following phases considered necessary to achieve the immediate objective of increased production of rice and corn, as follows: (1) research and experimentation of seed varieties for both rice and corn; (2) production and distribution of registered and certified seeds; (3) procurement and distribution of certified fertilizers and soil conditioners; (4) control of plant pests and plant animal diseases; (5) public agricultural information, including demonstration farms; and (6) purchase of modern rice and corn processing mills.
Section 5. During the first, second, third, and fourth years of the program, there shall be established under the direct supervision and control of the Coordinating Council the following administrative divisions, namely: (1) Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner Development, (2) Irrigation Development, and (3) Mechanization Development. These three divisions are created to plan, organize, and execute the long-range objectives of the program, to insure permanent stability in the production of rice and corn, The major functions, respectively, shall be (1) to make surveys of fertilizer and soil conditioner sources in the Philippines; (2) to administer the plans for aid in the construction of self-help communal irrigation system in unirrigated rice regions by duly organized communal irrigation associations with a view to increasing acreage of irrigated ricelands for rice production; and (3) to acquire, purchase, and make available all mechanized farm implements acquired under this Act and to administer tractor pools that the Coordinating Council may organize for the purpose of increasing acreage for corn production.
Section 6. The ACCFA under the supervision of the Rice and Corn Coordinating Council is charged with the purchase, distribution, sale and collection of payments for fertilizers and soil conditioners purchased under this Act and sold or advanced to farmers under the loan plan herein provided, in accordance with such policies, rules and regulations approved by the Council as will insure the equitable distribution of fertilizers and soil conditioners to farmers based on a farmers census consisting of such farmers registered as directly cooperating in the increased production program and to insure further that fertilizers and soil conditioners issued under this Act shall be used for the purpose they are intended and not channeled to the black market: Provided, That fertilizers and soil conditioners shall be sold in cash or advanced, payable in palay corn at the end of the harvest; that the quantity of fertilizers and soil conditioners to be sold to farmers per hectare shall be in accordance with a schedule determined by the Council on the basis of the farm area actually under cultivation; that if sold in cash, payment shall not exceed fifty per cent of procurement, handling, and storage cost; that if advanced, payable in palay or corn, computation shall be based on cash value of fifty per cent of the procurement, handling and storage of the fertilizer and soil loner and the government price for palay or corn: Provided, further, That fertilizers and soil conditioners shall be procured first from locally produced supplies which shall not exceed the cost of imported fertilizers and the balance shall be filled through importation after a public bidding conducted by a Committee composed of the Secretary of Finance or his representative as Chairman, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources or his representative, the Secretary of General Services or his representative and the Administrator of the ACCFA or his representative as members: Provided, finally, That no fertilizer and soil conditioner shall be sold to farmers without prior soil analysis.
No fertilizer, soil conditioner or selected seeds shall be resold by any farmer receiving the same from the government. The distributing agency of fertilizer, soil conditioner or selected seeds shall take all steps to prevent the waste and blackmarketing of the same, and shall provide the greatest publicity concerning the distribution, giving such information to the barrio councils or to any other civic organization requesting such information.
All funds derived from the sale of fertilizers and soil conditioners shall be used exclusively for supplying the fertilizer and soil conditioner needs of the four-year program.
Section 7. The Bureau of Plant Industry shall be charged with the production and administration of certified seeds, until later changed by law, including its purchase and sale to bona fide farmers with priority to farmers included in the census of registered farmers under the supervision and control of the Rice and Corn Coordinating Council in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the Council: Provided, That the price for certified seeds shall not exceed the government procurement cost, including handling and storage charges: Provided, further, That the recipients of such selected seeds shall not resell or utilize the same for purposes other than for planting.
All funds derived from sale of certified seeds shall be used exclusively for the prosecution of the seed production program.
Section 8. Insecticides, pesticides, and other supplies used for pest control shall be sold for cash not to exceed fifty per cent of procurement, handling and storage cost or may be advanced payable in palay or corn at harvest time. If payable in palay or corn, computation shall be based on the cash value and government price of the cereal at the time of harvest. The importation of insecticides shall be exempt from the payment of all taxes, including import duties. All funds derived from the sale of insecticides, pesticides and other supplies, shall be used exclusively for the prosecution of the pest control program under this. Act.
Section 9. Any person who violates any provision of this Act or of any rule or regulation promulgated in accordance therewith or who purchases or otherwise acquires fertilizers and soil conditioners and/or selected seeds in violation of this Act, or who, being an officer or employee of the government, violates, abets, or tolerates the violation of any provision of this Act or of such rule and regulation, shall be punished by a fine of two thousand pesos and by imprisonment of one year. In case the offender is an officer or employee of the government, he shall, in addition, suffer the penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office.
Section 10. There shall be appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of ten million pesos, fifteen million pesos, twenty million pesos and twenty million pesos for the fiscal years nineteen hundred fifty-eight-nineteen hundred fifty-nine, nineteen hundred fifty-nine-nineteen hundred sixty, nineteen hundred sixty-nineteen hundred sixty-one and nineteen Hundred sixty-one-nineteen hundred sixty-two, respectively, for the purpose of this Act.
Section 11. Subject to adjustments that the Council may deem necessary, the financing of the four-year rice and production program should follow the following schedule:
|
|
1958-59 |
1959-60 |
1960-61 |
1961-63 |
|
Item |
(Million) |
(Million) |
(Million) |
(Million) |
| (1) |
Research |
.25 |
.375 |
.5 |
.5 |
| (2) |
Seed Production |
.75 |
.75 |
.75 |
.5 |
| (3) |
Fertilisers and Soil Conditioners |
7.0 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.0 |
| (4) |
Pest Control |
1.0 |
1.5 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
| (5) |
Administration |
1.0 |
1.5 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
| (6) |
Communal Irrigation Projects |
None |
7.5 |
10.0 |
10.0 |
| (7) |
Rice and Corn Processing Mills |
None |
.375 |
1.25 |
2.0 |
| (8) |
Mechanization |
None |
7.5 |
2.0 |
2.0 |
Section 12. The budget, together with the production plan for each year of the four-year rice and corn production program, shall be prepared by the Coordinator in consultation with the Council and shall be submitted through the National Economic Council to the President for approval. All balances at the close of each fiscal year shall, upon the recommendation of the Rice and Corn Coordinating Council, be used to make up the appropriation of the succeeding years in the contemplation of this Act: Provided, That the total appropriation shall not be more than twenty million pesos.
Section 13. All irrigation projects for areas included under the rice and corn production program under this Act shall be communal in nature and the same shall be constructed and administered by the Bureau of Public Works.
Section 14. It shall be the function of the Mechanization Development Division created under this Act to coordinate the procurement activities of the Council with the Department of General Services for the purchase of tractors: Provided, however, That to complement the mechanization program, the Bureau of Animal Industry shall procure from the funds thereof additional work animals for sale to farmers on installments basis: Provided, however, That irrespective of source, the small diesel-fed and multi-purpose tractor which will not displace farm labor shall be preferred. The Coordinating Council, upon the advice of the Director of Animal Industry, shall promulgate the policies, rules and regulations on disposition of work animals acquired under this Act.
The Mechanization Development Division shall organize and maintain tractor pools under the direct administration of the Office of the Highway District Engineer where such tractor pools are located. The Council shall promulgate the policies, rules and regulations on the disposition of mechanized equipment acquired under this Act.
Section 15. The President of the Philippines shall, from time to time and through executive orders, direct and define the participation of the provincial, city, municipal, municipal district and barrio elective officials in the implementation of the said national policy.
Section 16. The Monetary Board shall give up top priority in the allocation of the necessary foreign exchange for the purchase of fertilizers, soil conditioners, insecticides, pesticides, materials and equipment needed in the implementation of this Act. Failure to comply with this provision without valid reason shall subject the Chairman and the members of the Monetary Board to prosecution and punishment provided for in section nine hereof.
Section 17. The rules and regulations herein authorized to be promulgated as well as the amendments thereto shall take effect thirty days after their publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation in Manila.
Section 18. The Rice and Corn Coordinator shall render a yearly report to the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on the operation of the program.
Section 19. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved, June 15, 1958.1a⍵⍴h!1
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