WHILE the government’s decision to sell National Food Authority (NFA) rice at P35 per kilo provides much-needed relief to consumers, there is still a pressing need to address the root cause of the problem — the hoarding of supplies by rice cartels, the chairperson of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food said yesterday.
Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga made the statement as he urged the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Enforcement Group to swiftly develop and enforce a framework to dismantle cartels and prevent price-fixing, citing Republic Act No. 12022, or the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, signed in September 2024.
The law provides the government stronger legal tools to combat hoarding, price manipulation, and cartel activities by imposing severe penalties, including life imprisonment and hefty fines, on violators.
“This law’s message is clear: We will not allow unscrupulous businessmen who are preying on our farmers and consumers to go scot-free. As early as now, our law enforcement group has to act to stop this kind of activity,” Enverga said.
Enverga’s panel is part of the five joint House committees tasked to address issues in the country’s food supply chain, including price manipulation, smuggling, and hunger.
Formed under House Resolution No. 254 authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, the quinta committee has brought together the Committees on Ways and Means, Trade and Industry, Social Services, the Special Committee on Food Security and the Enverga panel.
The quinta panel, led by overall chair Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairperson of the ways and means panel, earlier discovered that rice importers and traders are still in cahoots to manipulate the prices of rice despite an oversupply and President Marcos Jr.’s order to reduce import tariffs.
“We know that the price of rice is a huge burden to Filipino families. That’s why we’ll not stop until we bring the prices down and ensure that it is affordable for all,” he said.
Enverga said the whole of government interventions are now starting to yield results, but stressed that there is still a need to enhance market competition by allowing more players in the rice importation sector.
Despite the global decline in rice prices and the reduction of rice import tariffs under Executive Order No. 62, which lowered duties from 35 percent to 15 percent in July 2024, local prices have not dropped as expected, Enverga said.
To prevent traders from inflating prices and profiting at consumers’ expense, he urged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to establish a Suggested Retail Price (SRP) formula for rice, similar to other essential commodities. Under this system, importers would be required to display the SRP on rice packaging, while the Bureau of Customs would assess tariffs based on declared purchase costs, wholesale prices, and SRP.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the provincial government of CamSur is now selling rice for only P33 a kilo at Kadiwa Centers after the NFA bought more palay stocks from local farmers.
He said the local government unit (LGU) along with several local governments in Metro Manila are the initial LGU-partners of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in its new project of selling the staple at P33 or a maximum of P35 per kilo, following the DA’s declaration of a food security emergency earlier this month, as recommended by the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC), to stabilize rice prices.
Upon the recommendation of the NPCC, the DA declared a food security emergency last February 3 as rice prices remained high because of local factors like lower harvests resulting from last year’s weather disturbances and external factors such as India’s 2024 ban on its exports of non-basmati rice.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Tobacco Growers Association (PTGA), said the high excise taxes on tobacco products is only worsening illicit trade, given the wide gap between the prices of legitimate and underground products.
“Despite our commitment to producing quality crops and goods, we find ourselves struggling under the burden of escalating taxes imposed by the government. These taxes disproportionately affect the more than 40,000 tobacco farmers nationwide because we cannot compete with cheaper illicit products that flood our markets,” the PTGA said in a statement.
The farmers group said legitimate farmers have suffered from the influx of smuggled tobacco products that do not use locally-grown tobacco leaves.
PTGA president Saturnino Distor cited the decline in the demand for locally produced tobacco because of the prevalence of smuggled cigarettes.
“These imported, smuggled cigarettes do not use local tobacco,” he said in Filipino.
Distor said 80 percent of their sales currently go to the export market, but even this has been affected by the surge of illicit tobacco in the local market.
“Our earnings would be better if only legitimate, local cigarettes were sold in the market,” he said, adding that the local market is no longer a reliable source of income for farmers.
“We need to reduce the advantage enjoyed by smuggled cigarettes over our local brands,” he also said.
The Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) called for the inclusion of tobacco farmers in government agencies and decision-making bodies to protect their livelihoods and strengthen anti-smuggling initiatives.
Former DA secretary and FFF board chairman Leonardo Montemayor said farmers are key stakeholders in solving the problem.
“It is vitally important for real solution-seekers to consider these matters from a ‘worm’s eye view,'” he said, as he called for the appointment of farmers to the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Council.
National Tobacco Administration (NTA) administrator Belinda Sanchez highlighted the severe consequences of illegal tobacco sales on government revenue and national security during the recently held 2nd International Tobacco Agricultural Summit in Manila.
“The continuing proliferation of illegal tobacco sales in the local market is causing a decline in government revenue. This reduction in funds limits the resources available for essential public services, particularly universal health care. Moreover, proceeds from illegal tobacco sales are often linked to organized crimes, further threatening national security,” Sanchez said.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) fell P52 billion short of its P185-billion tobacco excise tax target in 2024, collecting only P134 billion.
The shortage impacts the funding of crucial government programs, including healthcare services that rely on excise tax collections from tobacco products.
Apart from affecting public funds, the illicit tobacco trade also takes a toll on the country’s 2.2 million Filipinos who rely on the tobacco industry for their livelihoods, the NTA said.
Sanchez noted that more than 430,000 farmers, farm workers and their families are directly affected by the growing prevalence of smuggled and counterfeit tobacco products, which she said underscores the need for a comprehensive and coordinated response.
