Latest news with #ExecutiveOrder62
GMA Network
12-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
Agri chief seeks gradual, strategic return of rice import tariff to 35%
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. is seeking for the gradual return of rice import tariff rate from the current 15% back to 35% as an abrupt increase could undermine efforts to bring down the staple's price. In a statement issued Thursday, Tiu Laurel, citing his testimony at the House of Representatives' Murang Pagkain Super Committee hearing last Wednesday, said that he recommended to the Tariff Commission that future increases in the rice import duty should be 'strategically timed to minimize its impact on both local and global markets.' 'Our suggestion is a gradual returning to the 35% duty,' Tiu Laurel said. The Agriculture chief warned that an abrupt 20-percentage-point hike could disrupt the rice market and undermine government efforts to stabilize prices since last year. 'A sudden increase could shock not only the local market but also ripple across the global rice trade,' he said. Tiu Laurel said the Philippines, as one of the world's major rice importers, plays a significant role in global rice pricing due to its demand-supply as well as regulatory dynamics. To recall, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., under Executive Order 62 issued in June 2024, lowered tariff rates for rice to 15% until 2028 from 35%. The current 15% tariff, a temporary in response to El Niño and India's rice export ban last year, remains under review. Marcos' decision to reduce the rice tariff triggered a series of initiatives, including the introduction of a maximum suggested retail price (MSRP) on 5% broken imported rice. These measures brought down rice prices and contributed to significantly slowdown inflation. Rice inflation clocked in at -12.8% in May and is expected to average at a negative rate for the whole of 2025. 'To minimize the impact on the local market, we propose timing the tariff hike to coincide with the harvest seasons of our major suppliers—around late September for Vietnam and December for Pakistan,' Tiu Laurel said. Vietnam remains as the Philippines' largest rice supplier, although Marcos has directed efforts to diversify sources—including India and Pakistan—to ensure more stable and affordable imports, according to the DA chief. While global rice prices remain lower than last year, they have recently begun to rise again, a trend analysts view as a market correction, said Tiu Laurel. Nonetheless, the DA still plans to lower the MSRP on imported rice by P2 per kilo, reducing it to P43 starting July 1. Since the MSRP was introduced in January, it has been reduced several times from the original P58 per kilo, in response to declining global prices and the reduced tariff. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News
GMA Network
08-06-2025
- Business
- GMA Network
DA eyes lower MSRP for imported rice in July
The Department of Agriculture (DA) over the weekend announced plans to lower the maximum suggested retail price of imported rice by P2 per kilo starting next month, following the decline in the prices of the commodity in the global market. In a statement released Sunday, the DA said it plans to reduce the MSRP of imported rice to P43 per kilo starting July 1, 2025 from the current P45 per kilo that took place on March 31, 2025. Latest data available from the DA's price monitoring show that prices of imported commercial rice in Metro Manila ranged from P39.83 per kilo to P58.65 per kilo as of last Wednesday, June 4, depending on the specification. To recall, President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., under Executive Order 62 issued in June 2024, lowered tariff rates for rice to 15% until 2028 from 35% previously. This comes as the administration seeks to lower the price of commercial rice, with the P20-per-kilo rice being sold in KADIWA or Kautwang sa Diwa at Gawa para sa Masaganing Ani at Mataas na Kita Centers starting in May, with the pilot set to go through December. This was the campaign promise of Marcos during his presidential run in 2022. Under the program, the government is set to procure rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) at P33 per kilo. These will then be sold at P20 per kilo, with the P13 per kilo subsidy to be shared by the national government and the local government units at P6.50 each. 'Marami pa rin ang nagdududa kung paano masu-sustain o patatagalin itong P20 rice na ito. May stock pa ba tayo ng bigas? Kaya ba ito na bayaran ng gobyerno?' Marcos said in a vlog released Sunday. 'Masu-sustain po natin 'yan basta't nagtutulungan ang lahat. Ang sisiguruhin natin ay hindi mawawalan ng abot kayang bigas ang ating mga kababayan,' he added. (There are a lot of doubters if this P20-per-kilo rice can be sustained or extended. Do we still have stocks of rice? Can the government pay for this? We can sustain this as long as everyone helps. We will ensure that our countrymen will not go without affordable rice.) DA monitoring shows that prices of local commercial rice in Metro Manila markets ranged from P38.17 per kilo to P57.73 per kilo as of June 4, 2025. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/RF, GMA Integrated News
