By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio and Adrian H. Halili, Reporters
THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (DA) would obtain 80-90% of rice for next year’s subsidized rice program from local farmers and the rest from imports, targeting 1.5 million metric tons (MMT) worth P29 billion, its chief told congressmen at a House of Representatives hearing on Monday.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel, Jr. said sourcing from imports would significantly cut costs, adding that getting everything locally would be fiscally unsustainable.
“This might be controversial, but if we want to make it cheap, we could wholly source it from imported rice and it would only cost us P7 billion,” Mr. Laurel told lawmakers in Filipino.
He added that sustaining the government’s P20-per-kilo rice program would be difficult without continued state intervention.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. campaigned in 2022 on a pledge to lower rice prices to P20 per kilo, but the early years of his administration have been marked by a surge in rice costs.
Imported fancy rice cost P57.33 per kilo, while premium grain was P44.71 per kilo and regular-milled rice was P36 per kilo, according to the Agriculture department’s marketing monitoring data on Sunday.
Locally sourced fancy rice was slightly cheaper at P56.83 per kilo, while premium rice was P50.67 and regular-milled rice was P36.60 per kilo.
Mr. Laurel said the government is seeking to sell cheap grain to at least 15 million households next year.
“I don’t think it’s possible without subsidies,” he said in Filipino. “The only country that can keep rice prices low is Vietnam. As for India, we really can’t compare because they provide 90% of fertilizers to their farmers for free.”
“We can’t compete with that kind of system,” he added.
A decline in global fertilizer prices to pre-Ukraine war levels could lead to sustainably lower rice prices, he said. “That’s the situation… [so] I don’t think it’s possible at this time.”
Meanwhile, Agriculture Undersecretary Asis G. Perez said the Philippines has grown increasingly reliant on agricultural imports, creating an imbalance at the expense of locally produced goods.
“In the last years, trade grew, but the trade is [lopsided],” he told lawmakers at the same House hearing. “There’s been an increase in imports in the past 10 years, with exports not growing. We are not in a very good state.”
The Philippines imported about 2.94 MMT of rice in the first nine months, according to DA data.
Mr. Marcos on Sept. 1 ordered a 60-day suspension of rice imports to protect Filipino farmers affected by low unmilled rice prices during the harvest season.
Mr. Laurel said it pegged this year’s rice yield target at 20.3 MMT, about 6.3% higher than the four-year low 19.09 MMT output last year.
“Originally, the rice production target for this year was 20.45 MMT,” he said in Filipino. “We’re revising the target based on what we’re seeing for the rest of the year.”
FARM SMUGGLINGAlso on Monday, the Senate agriculture committee summoned farm traders who skipped its inquiry into farm goods smuggling, which lawmakers said has deprived the government of billions of pesos in revenues.
At a hearing, Senator Francis “Kiko” N. Pangilinan said subpoenas would be issued to 10 traders who failed to appear.
Mr. Pangilinan cited data from the Department of Finance and Bureau of Customs showing that smuggling has cost the government at least P983 million since 2024. “Just like corruption in flood control projects, billions are also being stolen from the country due to smuggling,” he said.
He also questioned the DA over its alleged failure to charge major players a year after the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act was enacted.
“One year after the law was signed, why are there still no big-time syndicates jailed?” he asked.
The law classifies smuggling, hoarding, profiteering and their financing as economic sabotage, punishable with life imprisonment and fines five times the value of the goods involved.
The hearing also looked into reports of “consignees for hire” who lease import permits to brokers and traders.
Customs Commissioner Ariel F. Nepomuceno said the agency has documented cases of corporations renting out their licenses. “There are clear cases of consignees being hired, wherein the consignees allow their corporations to be used by importers,” he told senators.
Agriculture Undersecretary Carlos C. Carag added that using import clearances by anyone other than those named in the permit is illegal.
Import permits for crops are issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry, while the Bureau of Animal Industry handles meat import licenses.