A quiet desperation is settling over Philippine rice farms. Farmers are finding themselves trapped in a cycle of debt, their livelihoods threatened by a relentless influx of cheaper rice from abroad.
The nation, once largely self-sufficient in rice production, is increasingly becoming a destination for surplus harvests from other countries. This isn’t a natural market correction, but a situation where the Philippines is being used as a place to offload excess production, according to concerned agricultural groups.
The recent lifting of import restrictions has only exacerbated the problem. Signals from Pakistan, indicating a desire to ship rice to the Philippines, add to the pressure from established suppliers like Vietnam and Thailand, intensifying the competition for local farmers.
Palay, the unhusked rice, is selling for prices that barely cover the cost of production in many provinces. Temporary price controls and the brief import ban offered little lasting relief, failing to stem the tide of cheaper imports.
The government’s strategy, critics argue, places the burden of economic instability squarely on the shoulders of those who feed the nation. Instead of bolstering local production and ensuring fair prices for farmers, policies seem to favor imported rice, undermining the very foundation of domestic agriculture.
A key point of contention lies within the country’s rice tariff structure. Farmers are advocating for a fixed 35% duty on all imported rice, believing the current “flexible” scheme is deliberately designed to keep tariffs artificially low.
This flexible tariff adjusts based on the price of Vietnamese rice, fluctuating in five-percentage-point increments between 15% and 35%. Despite recent price drops in Vietnamese rice, the threshold for a 20% tariff has not been met, maintaining lower import costs.
The economic impact is stark. Calculations show that a 35% tariff on rice priced at $650 per metric ton would result in a landed cost of roughly P50.4 per kilo. However, the current 15% tariff on rice at $380 per metric ton brings the landed cost down to just P25.7 per kilo – a significant difference of P24.7.
This price disparity is directly linked to the plummeting farmgate prices of palay, which have fallen from P18-P21 per kilo to as low as P10-P12 in some regions. The benefits of lower import costs are not being passed on to consumers, but are instead accruing to importers.
The argument that “market forces” are solely responsible for rice prices is being fiercely challenged. Critics contend that the current system protects importer profits at the expense of farmers, offering little genuine benefit to the average consumer. The situation demands a fundamental reassessment of the nation’s rice policy, prioritizing the well-being of its agricultural communities and ensuring long-term food security.
