The country’s biggest farmers’ group belittled proposals to temporarily suspend rice import policies and adjust tariffs, saying what is needed is the repeal of the rice liberalization law.
After the Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday recommended to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. the suspension of rice imports, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said such moves are not enough to address the deepening rice crisis in the country.
The DA also proposed a gradual restoration of higher tariffs on rice (from the current 15% back to 35%) to protect local farmers.
But KMP said that with farmgate palay prices dropping to as low as Php8 per kilo, piecemeal adjustments such as the DA proposals are not real solutions.
“Suspending rice imports and raising tariffs are mere reactive measures,” said Danilo Ramos, KMP National Chairperson. “The chronic crisis in the rice industry is rooted in import liberalization and rice liberalization law, which should be repealed without delay.”
The Marcos government must repeal the Rice Liberalization Law (RA 11203), strengthen local food production, implement genuine agrarian reform, and stop land-use conversion of agricultural lands, the group said.
“The government must stop feeding us illusions of ‘pro-farmer’ policies while still upholding the same neoliberal framework that destroyed the livelihoods of rice farmers,” Ramos said.
Smuggling enabler
KMP said the RA 11203 and Executive Order 62 series of 2024 adjusting import duty rates only served the interests of rice traders, importers, and smugglers, not the farmers or consumers.
The Philippines’ import dependency worsened from 13% in 2018 to 25% in 2025 as a direct result of the policies, the group said.
It revealed that even with lower tariffs, rice remained expensive while local production suffered due to lack of support and depressed farm gate prices.
KMP said that President Marcos should move towards strengthening local rice production through massive government support, including subsidies and compensation.
The Marcos government should also guarantee Php20/kg up farmgate price for palay, provided Php25,000/ha production subsidy to farmers and implementation of 100% irrigation development and free irrigation services, the group added.
In addition, the group also demanded a stop to land-use conversion; the defense of agricultural lands from real estate and commercial encroachment; and push for genuine agrarian reform that ensures land for tillers.
KMP also called for the enactment of the proposed Rice Industry Development Act (House Bill 578) to comprehensively rehabilitate the rice sector.
“What our farmers truly need is not temporary protection, but a complete overhaul of the policies that have long sabotaged local agriculture. We need an assertive state policy that places food security and farmers’ welfare above foreign dependency and corporate profit,” Ramos said.
“Only through genuine agrarian reform and a strong national food program can we achieve rice self-sufficiency and food security,” Ramos added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
