Move aims to support local palay prices before harvest
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered a 60-day suspension of all rice imports beginning September 1, aiming to support local palay prices before the harvest, Malacañang said on Wednesday.
The directive followed consultations with Cabinet members on the sidelines of Marcos’s five-day state visit to India, based on the recommendation of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
Among those present in the meeting were Acting Communications Secretary Dave Gomez, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto and Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go.
Gomez said Marcos made it clear that tariff hikes on imported rice are not on the table for now.
“We will still see if we need to resort to that. Right now, the decision is to suspend all rice importation for 60 days beginning September 1,” Gomez said. That was the directive of the president “to help the rice farmers,” he added.
Gradual tariff hike
Before Marcos left for India on August 4, the Department of Agriculture had floated both a temporary import ban and a possible tariff increase to protect local farmers from depressed palay prices.
A gradual hike, starting at 25 percent, was among the options to avoid market disruption.
In a separate briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that Tiu Laurel urged caution in any tariff move, noting that even gradual changes could ripple through the market.
Calls for stronger protection intensified as farmgate prices of paddy rice plunged 31 percent in June to P16.99 per kilo from P24.93 a year earlier, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
