Farmers, consumers, and food security advocates on Wednesday denounced what they described as the Marcos administration’s “superficial” measures to address the worsening rice crisis.
The groups lamented the worsening rice crisis, with market prices soaring even as farmgate prices of palay continue to fall.
Members of the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women, Bantay Bigas, and Anakpawis Partylist staged a protest at the Department of Agriculture, criticizing the recently approved 60-day suspension of rice imports starting September and the tariff hike on imported rice.
They said the moves were temporary and ineffective as long as Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Law, remains in effect.
“Farmers do not fall for these deceptive schemes. These policies won’t make rice affordable or help us recover from years of losses due to consistently low palay prices,” said Cathy Estavillo, Amihan secretary general and Bantay Bigas spokesperson.
She said the two-month suspension of rice imports would do little to help farmers recover from years of losses.
She described it as a result of the Rice Liberalization Law, which she argued still blocks efforts to make rice affordable and achieve self-sufficiency.
According to the groups, palay prices have fallen to as low as P8 to P10 per kilo. They described government programs such as the KADIWA Centers, Executive Order 62 on tariff cuts, Rice for All Program, Sulit and Nutri Rice, Maximum Suggested Retail Price on imported rice, and the “BBM Benteng Bigas” as “deceptive and unsustainable.”
The protesters renewed their call for the repeal of the Rice Liberalization Law, which they blamed for the chronic rice crisis, low farmgate prices, and the bankruptcy of rice farmers.
They also held President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. accountable “as the headsman of the national rice crisis” and urged the public to “denounce and oppose his failed policies.”
