The Philippines is known to be the 8th largest rice producer in the world as of the year 2023. It is a country that relies heavily on agriculture as it plays a significant role in the Philippine economy making around 40% of Filipinos’ main employment. Most Filipinos near the countryside are farmers who rely on agriculture because it is their main source of income and not just that, but it is also a source of necessities like food; however, despite its relevance to the economy and the people, it is still on the brink of extinction ever since the rice tariffication law took effect in March 5, 2019.
One of the major objectives of the law is to make rice more affordable for the general public by reducing its prices. Moreover, it was expected to benefit farmers by allowing them to grow high-quality rice for export after lifting COVID-19 restrictions. It has permitted qualified commercial operators to ship rice directly from abroad by implementing the quantitative import limitations on rice and removing the National Food Authority’s (NFA) involvement in monitoring imports. According to the agreement on agriculture of the World Trade Organization and the Philippines, rice imports from ASEAN member states are bound to a 35% tariff and those from non-ASEAN nations to a 50% tariff or equivalent in place of prior limits. Indeed, it was a great goal in vision and many consumers had high hopes about the price drop. However, all that turned out to be a mirage. The law planted poisonous seeds into the economy as it started to kill off the agricultural industry instead of helping it bloom. This led to foreign rice being preferred over local supply, which aggravated the local farmers. How could they compete with cheap rice imports? They’ll only end up penniless as the continuous price hike of rice is still seen today as the government stands firm in putting price ceilings for it.
During the 2022 presidential campaign, the incumbent president Bongbong Marcos promised to bring down the price of the staple food down to P20. According to his political party, he gave assurances that there will be cheap rice once he got elected as president, which he did. In hopes of fulfilling this platform, a year later, on August 31, 2023, the office of Malacañang signed the Executive Order No. 39 which sets the nationwide price ceiling of rice. This executive order imposes a price cap that will set a limit on the prices of the goods and was recommended by the president himself to ensure the price drop of the crop. According to Marcos, the price ceilings on rice will be temporary, lasting no more than a month. But as the plight of our agricultural farmers continues to deteriorate, will the price cap be another broken promise?
Despite the intention of the rice tariffication law to assist the agricultural industry, many farmers and consumers are baffled to see the sudden demand to revoke the law supposedly designed to benefit them. Since the reinstatement of the price cap, the cost of the palay is on the verge of dropping to 17 pesos per kilo which can make farmers go into bankruptcy. This rate is not enough to cover all the expenses for the rice production, given that the fertilizer they are using is also getting expensive alongside inflation, a problem that remains prevalent in the country. Additionally, farmers are also consumers in need of proper income to sustain their basic necessities. But where can they get the budget if nearly all their savings are for their farms? September 6, 2023, a day after the implementation of the Rice Price Cap last September 5, 2023, it is not just the farmers who seem to be troubled by this but also the retailers themselves. The price cap aims for the prices of the staple food to stabilize after a month after having a price ceiling of P41 per kilo for regular-milled rice and P45 for well-milled rice. The harvest season is just around the corner and they are expecting that the supplies of rice would increase and this would help in bringing down the prices of rice even lower, however, it became a nightmare for the rice industry.
With the price cap being implemented, farmers are getting worried about the decrease in value of their harvested rice due to the recent typhoon that nearly destroyed their crops as well as the retailers. Despite the financial assistance they may receive from the Department of Social Welfare of Development (DSWD), local retailers worry that it will be insufficient to offset their losses. The local farmers only have one wish for our President to hear: If the government wants to achieve its goal of dropping the price of rice, their already small income should remain untouched.
According to Mang Roben, a farmer from Batangas, the cost per kilo of rice production should be equivalent to its selling price of 30 pesos per kilo to recover all the expenses they invested in producing the crop. He also humbly acknowledged that if he’s facing difficulties, there are other farmers who are struggling more than he is. Many of them also said that they do not hope for their children to end up being farmers in the future because of how hard a farmer’s life can be, ultimately posing a significant threat to the country’s economy. If the government continues to lower the price of rice, then local farmers would never wake up from this ordeal. As farmers witness their once-thriving livelihoods wither away due to government interference, they will be discouraged from passing down their trade to future generations, leading to a bleak future for the agricultural industry.
If we continue disregarding farmers and persistently ignore the more significant aspects that call for immediate solutions, it will lead our country to its downfall. And so, who will be at stake: the people, or the economy?
Obviously and ultimately, it will be both. If the people fall, the economy comes along with it, and vice versa. Hence, pitting consumers and farmers against each other is nothing but an endless loop of pinpointing. In the end, those who have the power to change what must be changed should be the ones accountable. We must put an end to the local farmers and local rice from extinction, or else the downfall of our agriculture will flash right before us. And if it falls, everything else will follow.