Two agricultural groups have filed a petition with the Supreme Court to declare Executive Order 105 unconstitutional, arguing that the variable tariff scheme for rice imports undermines local farmers and violates legal procedures.
The Federation of Free Farmers and the MAGSASAKA Party-List organization filed the petition against the order issued by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The measure institutionalized a system allowing an inter-agency group to adjust import duties between 15 percent and 35 percent based on international market prices.
While the government maintains the order balances consumer protection with farmer welfare, petitioners claim the move was hasty and unilateral.
The groups said the issuance of the order bypassed constitutional requirements for prior consultation and public hearings.
They alleged that these omissions violate the rights of the country’s estimated 3 million rice farmers and their representative organizations as mandated under the Constitution and the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.
Federation of Free Farmers chairperson Leonardo Montemayor and MAGSASAKA Party-List chairperson Argel Joseph Cabatbat contended that the order results in an undue delegation of legislative power.
They noted that tariff-setting authority belongs to Congress, and when the legislature is not in session, only the president may lawfully exercise such power, rather than an inter-agency body.
The petitioners claimed that the 15-percent to 35-percent tariff range fails to provide adequate protection to domestic producers.
They also warned that during periods of low global prices, cheaper imports could significantly undercut local production and livelihoods.
The petition recalled that the 50-percent most-favored-nation tariff on rice was previously slashed to 15 percent under Executive Order 62 in June 2024.
The government justified that earlier reduction as a necessary response to a national rice crisis fueled by high retail prices, but farmer leaders maintain these continued adjustments prioritize importers over the agricultural sector.
