TO SOME EXTENT, former President Rodrigo Duterte was right when he categorically described his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr as a “weak president.”
Citing Executive Order 93 warranting a 60-day suspension in the issuance of importation permits from September 1 until October 30, Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) chairman Leonardo Montemayor claimed that the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), an agency under the Department of Agriculture, openly defied the President’s directive.
He particularly hinted at the BPI’s issuance of importation permits to rice traders during the period that the supposed restriction was in effect. Hence, shipments continued arriving in ports under the auspices of the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
But even before the 60-day period would end, the agriculture department announced an extension of the rice importation ban following Marcos’ issuance of EO 102 which effectively prolonged the restriction until December 2025.
BOC’S LOUSY ALIBI
Montemayor, who once served as Agriculture Secretary, said that during the first month of the ban in September, BPI still allowed 340,000 tons of rice to enter the country, nearly matching August’s import volume when no ban was in effect.
“Last September 2025, the first month of the ban on rice imports, the DA—through its Bureau of Plant Industry—and the Bureau of Customs allowed the importation of 340,000 metric tons of rice. This quantity was about 90% of the legally imported volume in August 2024,” Montemayor was quoted in a news report.
However, the BOC insisted that there’s no way that they could refuse a shipment that was already on the high seas and on its way to the Philippines.
By its own admission, BOC said that the bureau permitted imports until September 15 — and only for shipments already at sea, arguing that they could not reject cargo in transit when the ban was announced.
Montemayor questioned how such a large quantity of rice managed to slip through despite a ban in effect.
DANGEROUS FORMULA
The FFF has warned that the combination of the import ban and lower rice tariffs could tighten supply in January, when local harvests decline and imports traditionally fill the gap, according to a news article which appeared on Bilyonaryo.
Farmers’ groups have opposed the moratorium on rice imports and instead called for the government to consider restoring rice tariffs to 35%, saying the cut to 15% in June 2024 has reduced government revenue for farmer-support programs.
The rice importation ban was primarily conceived “to allow the domestic market to absorb local palay (unhusked rice) supply, stabilize prices for farmers and consumers, and help Filipino farmers sell their produce at a fair price” during the harvest season.
Interestingly, the government missed providing technical assistance and agricultural infrastructures to boost local palay production. Worse, funds intended for the construction of farm-to-market roads were depleted in view of the so-called “ghost projects.”
IMPORT ALLOCATIONS
As this developed, Agriculture Secretary Francis Tiu Laurel issued a public warning about a scam involving solicitations for fraudulent rice import allocations.
Laurel said his office has received reports of certain individuals offering a scheme that would allow importers to bring in rice into the country starting this month.
“This is fake, a scam,” Tiu Laurel stressed, noting that the modus operandi targets rice millers, importers and traders in Cebu, who are given forms to sign with supposedly guaranteed import allocations.
However, Montemayor rebuked Tiu Laurel’s PR stunt, even as he took a swipe at a problem that the government itself created.
The FFF chair said that the DA is partly to blame for a scam involving fake rice import allocations amid the country’s ongoing import ban.
“If some rice traders are falling for this reported fake import scam, the government may be partly to blame,” Montemayor said, noting that inconsistencies in the implementation of the ban created opportunities for scammers.