THE Foreign Agricultural Service in Manila of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-FAS) said the Philippine government may face lawsuits over the rice trade liberalization law as opposition against the measure grows.
In a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report, USDA-FAS Manila noted that Republic Act (RA) 11203 would “likely face legal challenges in the form of lawsuits in the near future” as some rice industry stakeholders are “dismayed” over the measure.
RA 11203 liberalized the country’s rice trade, including the removal of the quantitative restriction on imports, and also deregulated the National Food Authority, leaving it as a buffer-stocking agency for emergencies.
“The rice tariffication law has also been met by strong opposition from some sectors, with legal challenges in the form of lawsuits likely in the near future,” the Gain report, which was published recently, read.
The report also agreed with farmers that the country’s rice imports will increase, particularly from Asean member-states, after Manila liberalized rice trade.
The USDA earlier projected that Philippine rice imports this year could reach 2.3 million metric tons (MMT), driven by stronger appetite from traders as they anticipate the full liberalization of the industry.
This would be the second consecutive year that the Philippines will import over 2 MMT of rice, as purchases from abroad last year were also estimated at 2.3 MMT, according to the USDA.
‘Undue haste’
Farmers belonging to the Federation of Free Farmers Inc. (FFF) on Sunday decried the “undue haste” of the economic managers to finish the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) by March 5 sans proper consultation with affected stakeholders.
The FFF noted that RA 11203 provides a 45-day period for the government to consult farmers, millers and other stakeholders in crafting the IRR.
FFF National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said it is important to maximize the 45-day period allotted by the law to ensure that farmers are well informed about the impact of the law.
This would ensure that the concerns of farmers will be heard and will be considered in the IRR, considering that the law has “a lot of loopholes” that need to be clarified, Montemayor added.
“Why are they rushing the completion of the IRR? Have commitments been made to some importers? Most farmers have not heard of the Official Gazette, nor do they read newspapers, so they do not even understand what is inside the law,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
“How do you expect ordinary farmers to understand, much less critique, this draft in one-day ‘stakeholder consultations’?” he added, noting that the latest draft of the IRR consists of 32 pages.
Officials of the agriculture department sounded the alarm last week that the government could face lawsuits if it would implement the rice trade liberalization law on March 5 sans the IRR.
Some members of the President’s economic team had announced that the new rice trade regime would take effect on March 5 even without the necessary IRR.
Farmers’ groups and other allied industry stakeholders have stated that they may challenge the law before the court due to lack of public consultation in crafting the bill.
Some groups are looking into the possibility of securing a temporary restraining order against RA 11203 from the Supreme Court.