The 35 percent tariff on imported rice should be restored to protect farmers’ interests, House of Representatives Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III said on Monday.
During the joint hearing of the House committee on agriculture and food and the committee on ways and means on the moratorium on rice importation, Dy said that the 35 percent tariff on imported rice will strengthen local rice production because farmers would benefit from it.
‘May I reiterate na kung maaari lang na ibalik natin ang 35 percent na taripa (if we can just put back the 35 percent tariff)? Please, thank you,’ Dy said.
According to agriculture chairperson and Quezon 1st District Rep. Wilfrido Mark Enverga, they support Dy’s call, noting that this is the same suggestion made by the quinta committee during the 19th Congress.
‘We fully support the appeal of the honorable speaker. This is an output, if the good [Agriculture] Secretary [Francisco Tiu Laurel] and the DOF [Department of Finance] would remember, that this is an output of the Murang Pagkain committee in the previous Congress, is that we bring back the tariff to 35 [percent]. So, I think that has reached your desk,’ Enverga said partly in Filipino.
‘So, please. We join the Speaker in his appeal na ibalik po natin ‘yong (to bring back the) 35 percent tariff,’ he added.
Dy attended the hearing on the rice importation moratorium, announcing on the onset that at least one million rice farmers will get a P7,000 cash aid for 2026, with an allocation reserved under the proposed 2026 national budget.
The Speaker said this after saying that the Department of Agriculture (DA) needs to implement systems properly so that the country would not be reliant on importation.
‘Regarding this, I am happy to inform you that in our 2026 national budget, farmers will receive direct cash aid as part of the government’s wider support for the agriculture sector. Help will surely come. One million farmers will each receive P7,000 cash aid, to address the loss of income due to the low buying price of palay,’ Dy said.
However, a farmer from Nueva Ecija told the committees that what they need is higher buying prices of palay and not another wave of cash assistance, saying that the practice of providing aid makes it seem that they are beggars.
According to Danilo Bolos said they would not need the P7,000 cash aid pushed by the Speaker if the government addresses extremely low buying prices for palay – ranging from P8 to P10 per kilogram.
Bolos said they are forced to dig into their savings or ask for loans since they have invested at least P14 to P15 per kilogram, only for palay to be bought at low prices.
After Bolos aired his sentiments, Dy assured him and other farmers that they think highly of workers in the agricultural sector, and that the aid is just a manifestation of the government’s yearning to support farmers.
‘First of all I apologize for these things, the aid is only out of the government’s yearning to address the needs of our farmers, but this does not mean that we think lowly of you, we regard you highly, we respect your efforts, if our hardworking farmers are not here, our country will not survive,’ he said.
‘You sacrifice a lot, whatever your ill feelings are, whatever your resentments are, you are still there working hard and sacrificing for our people,’ he added.
Enverga also assured Bolos that his yearning to amend to Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law that amended R.A. No. 8178 will be addressed by the panel.
As early as June 23 – before the 19th Congress lawmakers ended their term – former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez already said that the chamber will focus on improving the capability of the the National Food Authority (NFA), so that the government can buy palay or rice grains at fair prices while selling them cheaper.
Romualdez eventually filed House Bill (HB) No. 1 or the proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act, which seeks to amend R.A.No. 8178.
Based on the copy of the measure released by Romualdez’s office, the bill seeks to strengthen the regulatory powers of the NFA ‘to support the rice industry and ensure consumer protection through adequate supply and stable price of rice.’
Earlier, in his speech, Dy said the RICE Act will be tackled by the House being a priority legislation of the chamber and the entire Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).
In the 19th Congress, a proposal to amend the RTL was approved on third reading by the House of Representatives. House Bill (HB) No. 10381 was approved last May 2024, with 231 lawmakers voting in the affirmative, three in the negative, and one abstaining.
However, the bill faced opposition in the Senate amid fears that giving back some of NFA’s mandates might lead to corruption again. According to Enverga, this would not happen as NFA will have a limited role in importation.