Ada Pelonia

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is looking at recommending the increase in rice tariffs to around 25 percent in the third periodic review to arrest the decline in farmgate prices of palay.

Agriculture deputy spokesperson Joycel Panlilio said the proposal tallies with the DA’s bid to gradually hike the duties levied on rice to prevent a shock in the market.

“If the higher tariff gets approved, we can expect that this will benefit rice farmers because this could increase the price of palay during the harvest [season],” Panlilio told reporters in a press briefing on Wednesday.

“The price of imported rice will also slightly increase due to the higher tariff, and our locally produced rice may now be able to compete with the market prices.”

Industry sources have been lamenting the slump in farmgate prices of palay, which they claim have settled to as low as P10 per kilo.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) indicated that the farmgate price of paddy rice fell by around 31 percent to P16.99 per kilo in June from P24.93 per kilo in the previous year.

Despite this, Panlilio said the proposed percentage point hike remains under consideration, with the DA set to hold a meeting with the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DepDev) on Wednesday.

Executive Order (EO) 62, which slashed tariffs levied on rice to 15 percent from 35 percent until 2028, took effect in July 2024. The tariff scheme is subject to a periodic review every four months following its effectivity.

The DA has called for the gradual increase of rice tariffs before eventually returning to the 35-percent duty to prevent the spike in retail prices of the staple grain.

Such an increase should also be strategically timed with the harvest season of the country’s top suppliers to cushion its impact on local and global markets, according to the DA Secretary.

Based on World Bank figures, international rice quotations of major exporting countries have been on a downtrend. For instance, Thailand’s 5-percent broken rice variety averaged at $421.7 per metric ton (MT) in the second quarter from $617.3 posted a year ago.

Furthermore, Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice variety also dipped to $378.1 per MT in the reference period from $567 per MT. The said countries are the Philippines’ two leading suppliers of imported rice.

Image credits: Nonoy Lacza

Published Date: July 31, 2025