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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Marcos rejects proposed rice tariff reduction

Marcos rejects proposed rice tariff reduction

Published Sep 26, 2023 12:06 pm

President Marcos on Tuesday, Sept. 27, scrapped the proposed temporary implementation of rice tariff reduction which would’ve aimed to address the surge of rice prices in the market.

PBBM_rice tariff.jpgPresident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Photo from the Presidential Communications Office)

A statement from the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) gave details on why the Chief Executive decided against the proposal.

“We decided with the agriculture and economic managers that … it was not the right time to lower the tariff rates because the projection of world rice prices is that it will go down,” it quoted Marcos.

“So, this is not the right time to lower tariffs. Tariffs are generally lowered when the price is going up,” he added.

The PCO statement said that National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretaries Leocadio Sebastian and Mercedita Sombilla agreed not to go through with the proposal because of the downtrend of rice prices in the world market.

These remarks from the President were made after his sectoral meeting on Tuesday, when NEDA presented updates on the proposed rice tariff reduction with inputs from the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Farmer groups, along with presidential sister Senator Imee Marcos, also expressed concern against the proposed rice tariff reduction and even called for the resignation of NEDA chief Arsenio Balisacan and Finance Secretary Ben Diokno.

According to the groups, importers would mostly benefit from the proposal “because they are already undervaluing rice.” They added that the proposal would also “further depress” palay prices and discourage farmers from expanding their future production.

Earlier, NEDA recommended the reduction of rice tariff to help lower the prices of rice in the market.

This was intended to lead to the lifting of Executive Order (EO) No. 39, which imposed price ceilings on regular and well-milled rice in the market.

Under EO 39, which took effect on Sept. 5, the mandated price ceiling on regular rice is at P41 per kilo, while the mandated price cap on well-milled rice is at P45 per kilo.

Marcos hinted that there are no current plans to lift the implementation of EO 39 as this would still need to be studied.

“Pag-aralan natin mabuti (We need to study it well),” the President said.

But in order to soften the impact of the price cap on rice retailers, the Chief Executive ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to provide P15,000 cash assistance.

He also distributed sacks of rice to beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) to ensure the supply of this staple grain.

Related Tags

Arsenio Balisacan EO 39 rice tariffs President Marcos Rice prices
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