Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. urged members of the House Committee on Agriculture to back proposed amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), describing it as a “well-meaning policy” whose flaws have left Filipino farmers unprotected.
In his presentation before committee chairperson and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, Tiu Laurel said the RTL’s full liberalization of rice imports had “stripped the National Food Authority (NFA) of the ability to regulate supply, stabilize prices, or intervene in times of crisis,” leaving farmers at the mercy of market forces.
The agriculture chief warned that cheap, high-quality imported rice has dragged farmgate palay prices to unsustainable levels, as low as P8 per kilo last month, far below production costs even for the most efficient growers.
Tiu Laurel also rejected claims that the government’s P20 rice program caused the price drop, calling the allegation “absurd and simply untrue.”
Citing NFA data, he noted that palay prices began to recover only after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a temporary suspension of rice imports effective September 1, despite the continued rollout of the P20 program.
“This proves that market control, and not subsidies, is key. The real issue lies in the RTL itself. As currently written, it does not reform the rice industry, it threatens to kill it,” Tiu Laurel said.
He called for smarter regulation, data-driven policy, and a stronger NFA role, stressing the agency’s logistical capacity and experience in balancing market forces with public interest.
“We must regain control of the rice industry. It is imbued with too much public interest to leave entirely to the private sector,” he emphasized.
Tiu Laurel expressed full support for House Bill No. 1, authored by Speaker Martin Romualdez, which seeks to amend the RTL and restore the government’s ability to intervene when necessary.
