Farmers call for 35% rice tariff, demand Balisacan resignation

AN AGRICULTURAL coalition renewed calls for the restoration of the 35% rice import tariff and sought the resignation of Economy Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, claiming that his policies have “benefited no one.”

The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said in a statement on Tuesday that the reduction of rice import tariffs from 35% to 15% under Executive Order No. 62 caused rice imports to increase, putting pressure on farmgate prices offered to farmers for domestically grown palay (unmilled rice).

At the same time, the low palay prices have not been accompanied by a corresponding decline in retail rice prices.

“Our farmers are losing out, their farmgate prices are below production cost, yet consumers still suffer high prices at the retail level. No one has benefited from the policies pushed by the DEPDev under the leadership of Secretary Balisacan,” SINAG Chairman Rosendo O. So was quoted as saying in a statement, referring to the government’s chief economic planner, who heads the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev). 

According to SINAG, government data and independent analyses show rice tariff cuts have not translated into sustained retail price relief, even as global rice costs stabilized.

SINAG also said record levels of rice imports have contributed to oversupply and further depressed farmgate prices.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the national average palay price rose 16.6% month on month to P16.92 per kilo in November. It remained well below the P20.28 price from a year earlier.

“The government’s reliance on imports and tariff reductions has proven disastrous for the economy, undermining domestic food production while failing to lower prices for poor and vulnerable consumers,” SINAG said in the statement. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel