On Monday, December 6, presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos stated his plans of suspending the Rice Tariffication Law if he is elected president in the 2022 elections.

“We should minimize our importation. I know it’s easy to say but it’s not very easy to do. It will take a long while. I wouldn’t mind if we suspend the Rice Tariffication Law first,” Marcos said in a virtual forum “Halalan 2022 Para sa Agrikultura” hosted by the Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. (PCAFI)

He said that during the pandemic, the government relied on imports to keep rice prices stable, which was effective but had negative consequences for the country’s rice producers.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the bill into law in 2019, hoping to lower rice prices through importation.

The Rice Tariffication Law eliminates quantitative restrictions on rice trading and imposes a minimum tariff of 35% on imports. However, local farmers’ income has suffered as a result, according to Marcos.

“Earlier this year, the National Food Authority (NFA) was buying at ₱12. Ang breakeven ng farmer, ₱14, ₱15, ₱16,” he said.

He also pointed out that local farmers were forced to abandon their fields due to a lack of adequate income, resulting in lower production. 

“That is a cycle that keeps sucking us down into this importation hole, until you know we’re producing anything anymore, we are importing everything. And you know, we’re not in the best financial situation right now because of the pandemic and its effects on the economy,” he said.

Marcos also claimed that the government is not doing enough to support agriculture.

“Nobody wants to enter farming. There’s no money to be made. I have to say that because absolutely in my view the truth, they do not encourage our producers,” he said.

“We have to get the technology in there. We need to provide, in terms of technical, financial support,” he added.