Farmers to seek Supreme Court relief vs reduced rice tariff

MANILA, Philippines — Farmers’ groups will ask the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of Executive Order 62 that allows a 15 percent tariff on imported rice, down from the current 35 percent, until 2028.

Graft charges will also be filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and officials of the Tariff Commission, according to Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) legal counsel Virgie Suarez.

“Our priority now is the filing of a temporary restraining order (TRO) before the Supreme Court because what we want is to immediately stop the implementation of Executive Order 62 and then the graft charges against NEDA and members of the Tariff Commission will come after,” Suarez said at a press conference in Quezon City yesterday.

She added that the TRO petition would be filed before the effectivity of the EO on July 6.

“After the publication (of EO 62) on reduced tariff, it will be effective 15 days after or on July 6. We are planning to file on July 4 or July 5,” Suarez said.

EO 62, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by authority of the President on June 20, modified the nomenclature and rates of import duty on various products, including rice, for the 2024-2028 period.

The levy on rice, which covers both in-quota and out-quota rates, is subject to review every four months based on the EO.

Under the same EO, Marcos extended the effectivity of the lower rates on pork, mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of poultry and corn.

Pork imports have an in-quota tariff of 15 percent and out-quota rate of 25 percent, while the tariff on poultry MDM would stay at five percent until 2028.

The tariff rates on corn would remain at five percent for in-quota shipments and 15 percent for out-quota volume.

Among the grounds to be raised before the SC is the lack of public consultation conducted by the Tariff Commission, according to the SINAG legal counsel.

“There is no public hearing by the Tariff Commission. We just learned about it when there was a recommendation made by the NEDA and then suddenly, EO 62 was issued. What was surprising was that it was signed on June 21, and it was