AN AGRICULTURAL coalition renewed calls for the restoration of the 35% rice import tariff and sought the resignation of Economy Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, claiming that his policies have “benefited nobody.”
The Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) said in an announcement on Tuesday that the reduction of rice import tariffs from 35% to fifteen% under Executive Order No. 62 caused rice imports to extend, putting pressure on farmgate prices offered to farmers for domestically grown palay (unmilled rice).
At the identical time, the low palay prices haven’t been accompanied by a corresponding decline in retail rice prices.
“Our farmers are losing out, their farmgate prices are below production cost, yet consumers still suffer high prices on the retail level. Nobody has benefited from the policies pushed by the DEPDev under the leadership of Secretary Balisacan,” SINAG Chairman Rosendo O. So was quoted as saying in an announcement, referring to the federal government’s chief economic planner, who heads the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev).
In keeping with SINAG, government data and independent analyses show rice tariff cuts haven’t translated into sustained retail price relief, at the same time as global rice costs stabilized.
SINAG also said record levels of rice imports have contributed to oversupply and further depressed farmgate prices.
The Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the national average palay price rose 16.6% month on month to P16.92 per kilo in November. It remained well below the P20.28 price from a yr earlier.
“The federal government’s reliance on imports and tariff reductions has proven disastrous for the economy, undermining domestic food production while failing to lower prices for poor and vulnerable consumers,” SINAG said within the statement. — Vonn Andrei E. Villamiel