go through Chloe Mari A. Hufana,,,,, reporter
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos (Ferdinand R.
In a statement sent to journalists, Dave M. Gomez, acting secretary of the Office of Presidential Communications, said Mr. Marcos listened to the Ministry of Agriculture’s advice to “protect the current harvest season and protect local farmers from low Palai prices”.
The directive follows consultation with cabinet members during consultation with cabinet members in India.
However, Mr. Gomez pointed out that the president said it was not time to raise tariffs on imported rice.
He added: “We will still see if we need to resort to it.
The Philippines is the world’s largest rice importer.
Data from the Bureau of Plant and Industry showed that the country brought 2.44 million tons (MT) of rice as of the end of July. Last year, Southeast Asian countries imported 4.7 million tons, and more are expected to be imported this year.
In June, Small Farm Secretary Francisco P. Tiu-Laurel (Jr.) told the House that he recommended gradually recovering rice import tariffs from 15% to the original 35% interest rate, under Executive Order No. 62 signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos (Jr.), which was signed in June 2024.
The interest rate of 35% of the validity period is reviewed every four months until 2028.
Mr Tiu-Laurel also recommended regular tariff adjustments and harvesting in Vietnam and Pakistan (the major rice exporter in the Philippines) to mitigate market disruption.
The debate was the Philippines’ inflation rate slowing to 0.9% in July, the lowest since October 2019, according to data released by the Philippine Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
Falling food prices, including a 15.9% year-on-year drop in rice prices, helps alleviate overall price pressure
