Question & AnswerQ&A (PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 1211)
The main purpose of Presidential Decree No. 1211 is to regulate the milling of rice in order to improve its nutritional value by ensuring that rice mill owners/operators produce a minimum percentage of brown rice, which contains higher nutrients like protein, vitamins, and minerals.
It prohibits the milling of overmilled rice, which is rice with all the bran removed.
Rice mill owners/operators are required to mill a minimum of 10% of all palay owned and/or received by them for milling into brown rice.
The remainder must be milled into regular or tegular milled rice only.
Those mill operators shall be given temporary permits valid for one year from the effectivity of the decree to service the monthly requirements of individual households. After one year, failure to improve the mill to mill brown and regular milled rice will result in non-licensing by the National Grains Authority.
The Department of Public Information is tasked to require all sectors of the mass media to allocate spot time or space for informational and educational campaigns conducted by the National Grains Authority.
The Department of Education and Culture, all other government agencies, instrumentalities, and government-owned or controlled corporations must assist the National Grains Authority in the campaign.
The National Grains Authority is empowered to promulgate rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the decree.
Violators face cancellation of their licenses and upon conviction, imprisonment from one to two years, a fine ranging from Four Thousand to Six Thousand Pesos, or both, at the court's discretion.
The President/General Manager and/or Managing Director or Managing Partner of the corporation or partnership shall be liable for the offense and subject to the specified penalties.
The decree took effect thirty (30) days after October 12, 1977.
Any provision of law, order, decree, or letters of instruction inconsistent with this decree is repealed or modified accordingly.