Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III (File photo) MANILA - The passage and implementation since 2019 of the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) has slashed prices of the country's staple food to the current average of PHP39 per kilogram (kg) or a reduction of about PHP7 per kilogram compared to its cost in 2018 when it peaked to a per-kilo retail cost of around PHP46. Freed from local entrenched interests that took advantage of the protectionist policy on rice for decades, this staple food is now more affordable, especially for low-income Filipinos who spend about 16 percent of their total household budget on rice. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the RTL into law on Feb. 14, 2019 as Republic Act 11203. The law, which later took effect on March 5, 2019, replaced rice import quantitative restrictions with tariffs. "The Rice Tariffication Law was finally achieved after more than thirty years of failed attempts under previous administrations. The law opened up the Philippine rice mark