Marcos Jr’s emergency palay procurement ‘too little, too late’

The Philippines is among the top rice producers globally but remains one of the world’s largest rice importers, with over 2.4 million farmers depending on the crop for livelihood.

MANILA – Farmers across Luzon criticized the Marcos Jr. administration’s “emergency palay procurement” as a belated and insufficient response, with palay prices plunging to just P6 per kilo and most harvests already sold before the program took effect.

“Once again, the government is scrambling with stop-gap measures instead of delivering decisive and long-term solutions to the perennial crisis of rice farmers,” said the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP).

Farm-gate prices of palay across Luzon, including major rice-producing provinces like Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Isabela, Pangasinan, and Cagayan Valley, have dropped to as low as P6 to P10 per kilo for wet harvests and only P13 to P14 per kilo for dried palay, leaving farmers vulnerable to traders’ exploitative pricing schemes. In Nueva Ecija’s Guimba town, where over 80 percent of the crop has already been harvested, most farmers were forced to sell at rock-bottom prices before the government’s procurement program began, highlighting what peasant groups describe as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Malacañang’s failure to act promptly and decisively in addressing the rice sector’s deepening crisis.

Palay farmer Alfonso Cardon from Barangay Lennec, Guimba, said their community is sinking deeper into hardship.

“We are suffering even more. We can no longer recover, we’re already neck-deep. Our situation is worse than that of a carabao stuck in the mud. Our hard work is no longer being paid. We hope the farmers’ call will be heard. Farmers are in a very pitiful state,” said in a statement.

Another palay farmer, Arman Saguin from Barangay Maturanoc, said he turned down the traders’ offer to buy his harvest at P8 per kilo.

“I didn’t accept the trader’s price of only P8 per kilo. I decided to dry the palay instead so I could sell it at a better price,” he said. Saguin was able to harvest just 50 cavans of palay from his one-hectare field.

Based on the monitoring of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) from October 1 to 2, farm-gate prices of palay remain alarmingly low across Luzon and other regions. Prices were recorded at P7 per kilo in Aurora; P7 to P8 in San Miguel, Bulacan; P8 in Alicia, Isabela, and Ilocos Norte; P9 in Laguna; P9 to P10 in Zambales; and P10 in Camarines Sur and Quezon province. Meanwhile, prices ranged from P10.50 to P11 in Nueva Vizcaya, P10 to P11.60 in Pangasinan’s San Quintin, P10.50 in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija, and P11 in Iloilo. The highest recorded prices were P12 in Palawan and P14 in Bataan, still far below the P20 per kilo that farmers’ groups are demanding as a fair and viable rate.

The DA earlier announced that under the emergency plan, wet palay will be bought at P17 per kilo. The DA also said it was requesting a P3-billion fund to support this procurement and lease private warehouses. Farmers, however, said the aid came too late and was still inadequate. They stressed that the government should set the minimum buying price at P20 per kilo or higher to cover production costs and ensure a decent income. Anything less, they said, only benefits traders and millers while driving farmers deeper into poverty.

Meanwhile, the National Food Authority (NFA) buys palay from individual farmers and cooperatives under its Institutionalized Procurement Program at P19 per kilo, with the price for clean and dry palay ranging up to P23. Yet, these programs remain limited in scope and fail to absorb most of the farmers’ harvests.

Farmers and economists alike expressed doubt that temporary measures like the 60-day rice import ban and tariff hikes will significantly improve palay prices. Some analysts said that farm-gate prices continue to hover between P8 and P14 per kilo, below the 2024 production cost average of P14.53 per kilo. They warned that such policies could worsen the situation by creating short-term distortions while ignoring structural issues in the rice industry.

In a House hearing jointly conducted by the Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Committee on Ways and Means on the status of Executive Order (EO) 93, Nueva Ecija farmer Danilo Bolos said that despite receiving seeds, fertilizers, and mechanization aid, “we’re like beggars,” as the farm-gate price of palay remains too low to sustain their livelihoods. Other farmer groups have likewise warned of possible mass protests if the government fails to address the continued decline in palay prices and the long-term impact of the Rice Liberalization Law.

Earlier this year, the DA even declared a food security emergency in response to the country’s rice situation, releasing NFA buffer stocks to stabilize supply. However, farmers said these efforts were superficial and failed to address the root causes of their struggles. They pointed out that while palay prices increased slightly in some areas, such as Central Luzon where dry palay reached P16.98 per kilo, prices in other regions like Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, and Eastern Visayas remained stagnant or continued to fall.

The Philippines is among the top rice producers globally but remains one of the world’s largest rice importers, with over 2.4 million farmers depending on the crop for livelihood. Peasant groups emphasize that this contradiction reflects years of neglect and liberalized agricultural policies that favor imports over domestic production.

Farmers criticized the DA’s announced buying price of P17 per kilo for wet palay, saying it remains far below what is needed to cover production costs and ensure fair income. They stressed that the government should set the minimum price at P20 per kilo or higher so that farmers can actually profit from their labor. 

Peasant groups also accused the Marcos Jr. administration of neglecting the rice sector, saying that instead of temporary measures and publicity-driven programs, the government should implement a genuine, long-term plan to strengthen domestic rice production.

“First and foremost, there must be a reversal of liberalization and import-dependent policies that have destroyed local agriculture and kept farmers poor,” the KMP said in a statement. 

“What farmers need is a comprehensive program to strengthen local rice production. Measures that include institutionalized palay support prices that guarantee incomes, and NFA’s political will to buy directly from farmers at fair and just prices. Rice farmers also need expanded post-harvest facilities including mechanical dryers, storage, and transport, so that farmers are not forced to sell cheap to traders,” they added. (AMU, DAA)

Author’s note: $1 is equivalent to P58.10 as of Oct. 7 exchange rate.

The post Marcos Jr’s emergency palay procurement ‘too little, too late’ appeared first on Bulatlat.