A House panel on Tuesday called for the immediate convening of the multi-agency council, tasked with overseeing the effective implementation of the Anti-Agricultural Sabotage Act, ahead of the rice harvest season. The move aims to prevent cartels and smugglers from manipulating the cost of the staple grain.

Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga, chair of the House committee on agriculture and food, expressed concern that the lack of stricter enforcement of RA 12022 could lead to another price spike. He warned that unscrupulous traders might exploit the upcoming harvest season to artificially inflate farmgate prices.

“The law is clear: we will not allow the exploitation of farmers and consumers. If there are businessmen who manipulate the price, they must be caught immediately and prosecuted," Enverga said in Filipino. He also co-heads the House Quinta Committee, which is tasked with curbing smuggling, hoarding, and price manipulation.

RA 12022, which repealed the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act of 2016, established a national council composed of the Departments of Agriculture, Justice, Finance, and Trade and Industry, among others, and is headed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Marcos signed the law in September 2024.

The multi-agency council is mandated to ensure the proper enforcement of the law to dismantle cartels and curb profiteering and hoarding of agricultural and fishery products that manipulate market prices.

However, nearly six months after the law took effect, no hoarders, smugglers, profiteers, or cartels have been caught because the council has yet to convene, despite earlier assurances that it would meet last year.

Under the law, violators face fines up to five times the value of smuggled or hoarded agricultural or fishery products along with life imprisonment. Financing such activities is also classified as economic sabotage.

Members of the Quinta Committee believe that ongoing collusion between rice importers and traders is a key factor behind persistently high rice prices.

Enverga pointed out that during past harvest seasons, particularly between September and October, some farmers were reportedly forced to sell their palay at P14 to P18 per kilogram—far below sustainable levels.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that the average farmgate price of dry palay stood at P20.69 per kilogram in January 2025.

Enverga urged the council to immediately draft and implement a clear, enforceable framework to crack down on price-fixing and prevent farmers from being exploited when the harvest season comes.

In recent months, Agap Rep. Nicanor Briones, chair of the farmers’ group Pork Producers Federation of the Philippines, strongly criticized the council’s laxity in law enforcement. He argued that failing to convene the body would not resolve the ongoing rice price crisis.

On Monday, the Bureau of Customs seized smuggled frozen mackerel worth P202 million at the Port of Manila.

Between July 2022 and November 2024, the BoC confiscated smuggled agricultural products worth P5.87 billion. Reports indicate that the bureau has filed at least 250 cases involving agricultural products worth P8.59 billion from 2018 to 2024. However, Briones lamented that no arrests have been made.

Despite the implementation of Executive Order 62 in July last year—which reduced the rice import tariff from 35 percent to 15 percent—prices of rice remain high despite declining global rice costs and the reported excess supply in the country.

Government data showed that in February 2025, imported special rice ranged from P52 to P61 per kilo, while premiums were pegged at P51 to P58 per kilo.

Meanwhile, local special rice ranges from P55 to P63 per kilo, while premium ranges from P50 to P57 per kilo. The figures remain far from President Marcos' target of lowering rice prices to P20 per kilogram.