Philippines Senate probe on rice imports

Calls for a Philippine Senate inquiry intensified after rice imports reached 1.26 million metric tons in the first quarter of 2026, even as rice prices kept rising. (manilatimes.net) Former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor and former Magsasaka Party-list Representative Argel Cabatbat said on April 14 that senators should examine the import surge, which was about 37 percent higher than the 917,854 metric tons recorded in January to March 2025. (manilatimes.net; mb.com.ph) Bureau of Plant Industry data cited by Manila Bulletin showed first-quarter arrivals were roughly 500,000 metric tons above the Department of Agriculture’s request for industry players to keep shipments near 750,000 metric tons. (mb.com.ph) The complaints go beyond volume. Montemayor and Cabatbat alleged “favoritism” in the issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances and said some imported grain was sold with misleading labels, according to The Manila Times. (manilatimes.net) The pressure is landing as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pushes in the opposite direction on trade policy. On April 13, he ordered the Department of Agriculture and the Tariff Commission to study lower tariffs on imported agricultural goods and said permits should be fast-tracked to support more imports. (rappler.com) That import-first approach has been building for two years. Administrative Order No. 20, signed on April 18, 2024, told agencies to remove non-tariff barriers and speed the processing of agricultural import applications, including sanitary and phytosanitary clearances. (lawphil.net) Tariffs were also cut earlier in Marcos’s term. Executive Order No. 62, signed on June 20, 2024, lowered the most-favored-nation duty on imported rice to 15 percent, down from 35 percent, and Executive Order No. 105 kept that 15 percent rate through December 31, 2025, with a price-linked adjustment system starting January 1, 2026. (lawphil.net; gmanetwork.com) The government’s stated aim has been cheaper food, but March 2026 inflation still accelerated to 4.1 percent from 2.4 percent in February, and the Philippine Statistics Authority said food prices were part of the increase. Separate price monitoring in March showed well-milled rice averaging 55.10 pesos per kilogram in early March, up from 53.54 pesos in late February. (psa.gov.ph; tribune.net.ph) Importers and farm officials have been arguing over how much foreign rice the country actually needs. In January, the Department of Agriculture said it wanted to manage 2026 rice imports more tightly to protect farmgate prices and said volumes would likely range from 3.6 million to 3.8 million metric tons for the year. (da.gov.ph) If senators take up the case, the hearing would test whether the Marcos administration can keep accelerating food imports while answering claims that the permit system and retail labels are being used unevenly. (rappler.com; manilatimes.net)