Kiko, Risa seek to remove presidential power to adjust rice tariff

Two senators have filed a joint resolution seeking to terminate the delegated authority of the President to modify tariff rates on rice in a bid to bring back its tariff to “previous levels.”

In filing Joint Senate Resolution No. 2, Senators Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros asked both the House of Representatives and the Senate to strip the President of such powers, citing the negative impact of imposing lowered tariffs on imported rice. 

It also aims to revert the tariff rates on imported rice to the previous level of 35% from 15%, following the signing of Executive Order No. 62 in June 2024. 

“[T]his combination of lower tariffs and precipitous drops in global rice prices constitutes a ‘perfect storm’ that has severely devastated the Philippine agricultural sector,” the resolution read. 

While it acknowledged that Section 1608 of Republic Act No. 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) of 2016, delegates authority to the President to adjust tariffs, the joint resolution emphasized that “this is not an absolute power” and that Congress has the authority to withdraw or terminate it.

The resolution also directed the appropriate committees of both the Senate and House to hold caucuses to review the current state of the rice industry and propose specific legislation for the welfare of local farmers. 

Pangilinan, chairman of the Senate committee on agriculture, food, and agrarian reform, urged immediate action on the matter for the sake of local farmers. 

“Wag natin patayin nang paunti-unti ang ating mga magsasaka. Ipaglaban naman natin ang karapatan nila na kumita ng sapat at maayos, na mabuhay ng may dangal,” he said in a statement.

(Let's not kill our farmers little by little. Let's fight for their right to earn enough and properly, and to live with dignity.) 

GMA News Online sought a comment from Malacañang and will update this story once it responds. 

In June, the Department of Agriculture (DA) recommended to the Tariff Commission that any future increase in the rice import duty—from the current 15% back to the previous 35%—be implemented gradually to minimize its effect on both local and global markets.

Agriculture chief Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. had warned that an abrupt 20-percentage-point hike could disrupt the rice market. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News