Pangilinan hails Marcos' rice importation halt

Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food chairperson, Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, welcomed the decision of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to suspend all rice importation starting 1 September to protect local farmers during the peak of the harvest season.

“I thank the President for hearing the pleadings of our rice farmers to suspend the rice importation. We are also asking the government to provide our rice farmers [support] due to the losses that they have incurred when erring traders buy their palays from P5 to P9 per kilo,” Pangilinan said.

Further, he asked President Marcos Jr. to implement the Sagip Saka Law, arming national and local government agencies to buy palay or rice directly from farmers.

“There are billions of pesos allocated in the 2025 national budget for the purchase of food. Let's use it so that there are billions of pesos in the pockets of not only our farmers but also hog raisers, fishermen, and vegetable growers,” Pangilinan said.

On Wednesday, Presidential Communications Office Secretary Dave Gomez announced that rice importation will be stopped momentarily following a meeting between Marcos and members of his Cabinet on the sidelines of his five-day state visit to India.

“The President issued the directive after consulting with Cabinet members and upon the recommendation of Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.,” Gomez said.

The temporary stoppage of rice importation is meant to help stabilize local palay prices and ensure farmers are not undercut by the influx of cheaper imported rice.

“Right now, the decision is to suspend all rice importation for 60 days beginning Sept. 1. ‘Yan po ang utos ng ating mahal na Pangulo para matulungan ang ating mga magsasaka ng bigas,” Gomez said.