On July 18, 2024, thousands of farmers denounced Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu- Laurel Jr. for failing to defend Filipino farmers and fisherfolk from uncontrolled importations, denouncing his import-dependent food security policy as a world-class disaster.
Members of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Amihan, Bantay Bigas, Pamalakaya and other groups will form a human chain in front of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to show their “extreme dissatisfaction” with the DA and Malacanang. The protest action, KMP explained, will expose the failure of the Marcos Jr. administration to make good on its vow to cut rice prices to P20 per kilo, eventually selling low quality rice at P29 per kilo for “disadvantaged sectors” and promising to sell well-milled rice between P45 and P49 a kilo.
The problem of the DA, KMP stressed, was that it is focused on stop-gap measures, with Tiu-Laurel repeating the same mistakes committed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. when he headed the since July 2022 and yielded the post to Tiu-Laurel only seven months ago. Both of them failed to improve the overall state of the local agricultural production and the welfare of food producers. Both men pushed wrong import-liberalization policies, with Marcos Jr. anticipating shortages and allowing higher import volumes for favored traders while Tiu-Laurel was left unawares about NEDA director-general Arsenio Balisacan’s memo about reduced tariffs for rice, sugar, meat products, vegetables and fish “in response to shortages.” Worse, the memo “eased” the release of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) clearances for imported food products.
Tiu-Laurel complained that Balisacan, the architect of the tariff reduction memo, never informed him about the Executive Order 62 (EO 63) and opposed its provisions, explaining that the DA will sit on the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the order to guarantee that Balisacan and his NEDA, along with the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), would not succeed in decimating whatever is left of the comparative advantage of farmers and fishermen. Yet, the order was signed, sealed and delivered by Marcos Jr., apparently without Tiu-Laurel’s knowledge. After Tiu-Laurel’s initial protest, nothing has been heard about the issue anymore, only deathly silence. Count it as a major victory for food processors, who do not share the risks of rice producers, livestock and poultry farmers but enjoy generous tariff cuts on their meat imports.
EO 62 reduces the already low tariff rates of 35% to 15%. Signed on June 20, the EO modified the nomenclature and rates of import duty on various products, including rice, from 2024 to 2028. The levy on rice, which covers both in-quota and out-quota rates, is subject to periodic review every four months, the EO said. The EO also guarantees lower tariff rates on pork, mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of poultry and corn. Pork imports have an in-quota tariff of 15% and an out-quota rate of 25%, while the tariff on poultry MDM remains unchanged at 5% until 2028. Tariff rates on corn would remain at 5% for in-quota shipments and 15% for out-quota volume. Overall tariff rates would revert to their original higher rates by Jan. 1, 2029.
Despite the pompous declarations of the DA, there has been no concrete program to boost rice production, develop irrigation facilities save for those in the Ilocos Region, and determine the possibility of cultivating rice varieties that can be harvested quicker than traditional strains. Rationalizing the planting period and the regional harvesting schedules will ensure that the country will have steady rice supply, perhaps even reducing the traditional 7% rice deficit, even as the deficit soared recently.
This year, the DA went on an importation rampage, with Tiu-Laurel ordering the immediate importation of 25,000 metric tons (MT) of fish (it is not reassuring that his family owns Frabelle Corp. the country’s biggest fishing company and is also involved in meat processing) under EO 62, imported 4.2 million MT (MMT) of rice to be dumped by yearend, just after rice farmers harvest their palay and 200,000 MT of sugar, even as government barred the Central Azucarera de Don Pedro from importing raw sugarcane, which led to the closure of the sugar central in Batangas.
KMP also denounced rampant smuggling of thousands of metric tons of vegetables produce dumped into the local market. Rice prices remain sky-high with retail prices ranging from P55 to more than P60 per kilo. The 22.5% rice inflation for June is a historic high, which means the supposed adequate supply from importers do not materialize at the retail outlets, an indication that the staple is being stashed somewhere as hoarders believe prices will still rice until the palay harvest in October. The high prices of rice affect other commodities as well since it is the main item in the pantry. Meanwhile, people will have to eat less in the hope that prices will be reduced next month when more imports arrive. So, the cycle continues and the promise of security eludes Tiu-Laurel and his boss.
