MANILA, Philippines — A joint decision in search of to terminate the delegated authority of the President to regulate tariff charges on rice has been filed within the Senate.
Senators Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan launched the SJT Decision No. 2 on Monday, significantly in search of to revert tariff charges on rice to “earlier ranges.”
READ: DA proposal to Marcos: Droop rice importation, reinstate 35% tariff
Within the measure, the lawmakers famous that Government Order No. 62 (EO 62) was issued by the Government Division in June 2024, which drastically slashed tariffs on imported rice from 35 % to fifteen %. They imagine that the implementation of EO 62 has “unleashed a flood of international grain into the Philippine market, which continues to devastate Filipino farmers and destroy their livelihoods.”
The senators famous that decrease tariffs and drops in international rice costs constitutes a “good storm” that has severely devastated the Philippine agricultural sector.
“Regardless of the intention of decreasing client costs, farmers are actually promoting their palay at costs that can’t even cowl their manufacturing prices, with the farmgate worth of palay having fallen to a median of round P16.9 per 2 kilogram as of June 2025, a drastic drop from over P24.9 per kilogram only a yr prior (in keeping with the most recent PSA report), in comparison with a median manufacturing price of P13.38 per kilogram in 2023,” they famous.
READ: Agri teams push for return of 35% tariff on imported rice
Hontiveros and Pangilinan argued that the ability to impose tariffs essentially rests with Congress, pursuant to Article VI, Part 28(2) of the Philippine Structure.
“Whereas the President is granted delegated authority to regulate tariffs beneath Part 1608 of Republic Act No. 10863, in any other case generally known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) of 2016, this isn’t an absolute energy. Part 1608(f) of the CMTA explicitly offers the treatment: The ability herein delegated could also be withdrawn or terminated by Congress by way of a joint decision,” they mentioned.
With this, the senators sought to terminate the delegated authority of the President to regulate tariff charges on rice, and reverting tariffs to earlier ranges.
The measure significantly said that upon the effectivity of the Joint Decision, the tariff charges on imported rice shall revert to their earlier ranges of 35 % tariff for each in-quota and out-quota imports.
It additionally significantly famous that the suitable committees of each the Senate and the Home of Representatives shall maintain caucuses to evaluate the present state of affairs of the rice trade, together with however not restricted to market costs, manufacturing prices, import volumes, and the welfare of native farmers. /cb
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