By: Gabriel Pabico Lalu – Reporter

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s two executive orders (EO) related to the agricultural sector are not enough to improve the state of farmers across the country, lawmakers from the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc said on Monday.

Both ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio and Gabriela party-list Rep. Sarah Elago called out Marcos’ Executive Order (EO) No. 100 and 101, with Tinio saying that there is a need to restore the National Food Authority (NFA) power to buy palay even in regular times.

EO No. 100 directs the Department of Agriculture (DA) to determine, set, and adjust the palay floor price for government procurement amid a decrease in farmgate prices, while EO No. 101 orders the full implementation of the Republic Act No. 11321 or the Sagip Saka Act.

“Setting a floor price, or the lowest price of rice that farmers should be paid for is needed to ensure that farmers would not suffer losses.  But it is also good to control profiteering or the excessive profits made by middlemen before rice reaches retail outlets, leading to expensive prices of grains,” Tinio said in Filipino during an ambush interview.

“Ultimately, what we need to do is to junk the Rice Liberalization Law, Rice Tarification Law, and focus again on supporting local production of palay and rice, to be really self-sufficient.  If this happens, Filipinos do not have to rely on imported rice as their staple food,” he added.

Elago meanwhile lamented that EO No. 100 almost looks similar to the current mechanism — as no specific floor price was mentioned and the DA was only asked to study what would be the most appropriate price, just like it has been doing regularly.

“It is disappointing that the executive order does not have a price indicated.  Our farmers’ call is for the setting, establishment of a floor price for purchase of palay.  But what the executive order only does is to create a committee that would do that, which does not differ largely from the current process taken by the Department of Agriculture,” she said.

“We have a crisis wherein farmgate prices reach P5 (per kilogram), P6, that’s why  farmers are losing a lot and have loans piling up.  That’s why we are calling for the establishment of a specific price.  They said before it might be P17 (per kilogram), but this is lower than the P21 (per kilogram) which is only right for us to help our farmers,” she added.

Regarding EO No. 101, Tinio said this would help the farmers as it would compel government agencies, including local government units, to buy from local farmlands.  However, the lawmaker said the ultimate solution is still to repeal the Rice Tariffication Law.

“Of course that can help, but the important thing is to bring back the powers of the NFA to buy palay directly from farmers.  We know that under the Rice Tariffication Law, the NFA’s power has been limited to just building a buffer stock,” Tinio said.

“So again, this is part of our calls to junk the Rice Tariffication Law, and it shows that Makabayan and our farmers’ fears before — that the law will destroy the entire agricultural sector, particularly the rice farming industry, is true,” he added.

There have been calls from leaders of the 20th Congress about revisiting or repealing Republic Act No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law.  Last October 8, House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III said that he will push for policies ensuring that locally-grown rice grains are prioritized, instead of imported variants.

“We need to thoroughly discuss and revisit the law,” he said, referring to the Rice Tariffication Law.  “What we want is to give back the control over importation to the Department of Agriculture, and to give priority to the purchase of local grains before we allow importation.  Let us prioritize our own produce before the imported.”

As early as June 23 — before the 19th Congress lawmakers ended their term — former House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez already said that the chamber will focus on improving the NFA’s capability, so that the government can buy palay or rice grains at fair prices while selling them cheaper.

Romualdez eventually filed House Bill (HB) No. 1, or the proposed Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act, which seeks to amend R.A.No. 8178.

Based on the copy of the measure released by Romualdez’s office, the bill seeks to strengthen the regulatory powers of the NFA “to support the rice industry and ensure consumer protection through adequate supply and stable price of rice.”

Dy said the RICE Act will be tackled by the House being a priority legislation of the chamber and the entire Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council.

Published Date: October 27, 2025