Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 20) – A farmers’ group has questioned President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to suspend the importation of rice, at least during the harvest season, saying there is no legal basis to do so.
“Government cannot just stop importation [of rice] under this new law, so ano pong legal basis ng gobyerno para ipatigil ‘yan,” Leonardo Montemayor Federation of Free Farmers and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chairman said on CNN Philippines’ Newsroom Ngayon.
[Translation: So what is the legal basis to stop that [rice importation?]
The rice trade liberalization law authorizes the President to change import duties as long as they are allowable under international agreements to which the Philippines is a signatory, but it does not state whether he could stop rice importation.
“The President may increase, reduce, revise or adjust existing rates or import duty up to the bound rate committed by the Philippines under the World Trade Organization and ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement,” the law states.
While their group welcomed the president’s announcement, Montemayor said it might be a “case of a little too late” because the harvest season is about to end in January next year, and there will be a small number of farmers who will stand to benefit from the suspension order.
Duterte made the announcement in a media briefing late Tuesday. But he said that he is not inclined to scrap the rice liberalization law, a measure which replaced rice import quotas with customs duties. He said the import policy will serve as a “buffer” for the government as the country’s current rice supply will not be enough for millions of consumers.
Montemayor also rebutted Duterte, saying there is already an oversupply of rice for this year.
Montemayor, who is also former Agriculture chief, noted that the country only needs about one and a half million metric tons (MMT) of rice per year, but currently, the country already has almost 3 MMT as of end of October.
Agriculture Secretary William Dar said in a tweet on Wednesday that he will meet with the president regarding his order of suspending importation of rice.
Montemayor expressed hopes that the President means what he said the second time around.
“Wini-welcome namin yung announcement ng ating pangulo. Actually ginawa na niya iyan noon – early this year – kaya lang it was never carried out. Now that he has repeated it, sana naman po matupad na. Although, dapat sana noon pa ginawa ‘yan,” he said.
[Translation: We welcome the announcement of the President. Actually, he has said the same thing before – early this year – but it was never carried out. Now that he has repeated it, I hope it comes true. Although, I wished that was done before.]
Duterte previously ordered the National Food Authority to buy local harvest to cushion farmers’ losses brought by dropping palay or unmilled rice prices. A measure seeking to mandate government agencies to do the same has been approved on second reading at the House of Representatives.
Montemayor said he welcomes Duterte’s other directive to the Agriculture department to allot more budget to buy local produce, but added as far as he know, the rice storage facilities of the National Food Authority (NFA) are already full.
He then asked authorities, “Puno na po ang bodega ng NFA. San nila iiimbak ang palay?“
[Translation: The NFA warehouse is full. Where will they put the unmilled rice?]
Montemayor reiterated an earlier proposal to impose more taxes on imported rice “so they [traders] may be discouraged from bringing in more rice into the country.” But the Cabinet has rejected the proposal and instead decided to provide cash assistance.
He argued that they are just asking authorities to implement the Rice Tariffication Law, which states that to “protect the Philippine rice industry from sudden or extreme price fluctuations, a special safeguard duty must be imposed.”
Farmers hold protest vs Rice Tariffication Act
Farmers’ groups took to the streets on Wednesday to press the government to repeal the Rice Tariffication Act, a policy which opened the floodgates to rice imports to bring down retail prices. But farmers and advocacy groups have lambasted the measure, saying it has hurt the income and livelihood of farmers.
Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas Chairperson Rafael Mariano said that Dar should prove that he is pro-farmer.
He added that the Department of Agriculture should purchase palay at P20 per kilogram. Philippine Statistics Authority data show that the average buying palay price is P15.50 per kilogram.
Carolyn Bonquin and Alyssa Arola contributed to this report.
READ: Duterte to Congress: Allot budget for purchase of local farmers’ rice harvest
